


Supanachiyu

by seraphim_grace



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-10
Updated: 2010-08-10
Packaged: 2017-10-11 00:52:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/106417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphim_grace/pseuds/seraphim_grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The second gospel has appeared, but it means that the Winchesters have to watch it</p>
            </blockquote>





	Supanachiyu

Fic: - Supanachiyu  
Author: Seraphim Grace  
Fandom = Supernatural  
Pairing = Suggested Sam Dean  
Rating = PG13  
Notes -All Japanese is correct at time of going to press and footnoted at the end of the story.

\------

Bobby was not the sort of person to phone and demand that they both "git here now" so even as Sam took the call Dean managed a hand brake turn even before he had explained that they had received a strange parcel from their "god-damn pocket prophet."

Although they were yet to receive anything particularly dangerous from Chuck, mostly just things that the fangirls sent on- some of which was edible and the dogs appreciated; some of which were just plain creepy; and one of which ticked - Bobby liked to treat each item like a nuclear warhead. Although winning by far was the complete set of repainted Star Wars figurines, Dean was almost certain that they were cool, because the complete set of repainted Barbies - with hand made flannel shirts, hoodies and leather jackets were just plain creepy.

Say what you wanted about Chuck but he was more than willing to share the crazy, Dean had actually meant he was to share the proceeds when he suggested it but the parcels kept arriving. Knowing Bobby this would be like the others, held in a protective circle with the most powerful wards he could manage until they arrived.

"Fudge." Sam predicted, it was usually fudge, although once it had been a fruit cake that could have been used as a weapon of mass destruction if hurled.

"Cuddly toys, because the world clearly doesn't have enough Dean bears."

"My little Sam ponies," his brother countered quickly.

"Fan comics." Dean answered without breaking for breath.

Then they both shuddered.

"The fanwritten galley of the new book released on the internet." Previous attempts to find this were always hilarious because none of them were even close, apparently Sam was able to rescue his brother from Hell with the power of Love, although the best one had him going into Hell Dante style armed to the teeth to rescue him, of course as it was more Dante from "Devil May Cry" than the "Inferno" just made it more readable. It was also not slash which made any spelling errors, grammatic faux pas and just plain unreadable bits forgiven.

"Maybe it's his revenues to help with the ammo fund." Sam said and then they both burst out laughing.

\----

The parcel sat in a circle of salt and chalk sigils on a black wood desk in a padded envelope. There was a silver knife waiting to open it. Although most of the fangirls were harmless every now and again they found something they thought might be useful or supernatural in origin they'd send it to Chuck, and they had before now sent a rather powerful locket full of demon hair. It had skirted across the table on it's own, and Bobby on the whole took no chances. If one girl in Albuquerque of all places could find something like that, let alone the German boy's god statue that actually granted wishes, who knew what else they could find. Bobby treated each one as if it was a bomb about to explode, and then put them in a lead lined vault only he knew the location of, fruit cakes, fudge, my little Sam Ponies and Dean bears included.

Bobby pulled on a pair of chain mail gloves before he lifted it, meaning he used both iron and silver, and then slit open the envelope at the bottom with the antique letter opener, not the top. He used a pair of tongs made from lignum vitae to remove the contents which was four dvds in paper wallets. They were individually numbered 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-13.

There was a hand written note which he used the tongs to open.

_In my defence I sold the option for this long before I knew you were real, and then nothing happened so I completely forgot about it. It paid for my house. I forgot all about it until Mariko from Tokyo, who is a Dean girl by the way - _ Bobby had told Chuck that they were keeping a tally - _ sent me these. This has been out about six months and there are rumours Funimation are doing the dub._

I repeat I am very sorry, but I have a food and shelter habit that I must support.

Please don't kill me.

Using the tongs Bobby held up the envelope and shook it in case something else fell out. Nothing did. So he slit it up the side revealing packing but nothing else.

"They made a TV series?" Sam asked reaching out and lifting 5-7 and holding it up to the light.

"Idjit," Bobby said, and snatched the disk. "You know we're going to have to watch it."

\-------

 

The sarariman rolled out of the bar waving to his drunken friends who remained in the sushi bar. The streets were wet leaving shining puddles of orange streetlights as cars whizzed past with streaking red lines. There were packs of other Sararimen who led each other home, arms around each other, and waitresses walking home after a long night at work.

She stepped out of the glass doors wearing a loose white dress, she had shining black hair loose about her pale shoulders and she turned to look at him, her lips pastel pink, and slightly open. She licked her lips and then turned around, her hair flaring out behind her and stepped into the alley way. She turned back to look at him, licking her lips again, and then crooked a white finger at him.

He stumbled to follow her.

The camera remained fixed letting the microphone picked up the sounds of his footsteps, then the distinct screech of metal against metal, before the wet splat of a very large amount of liquid hitting the floor.

\-----------

The credits rolled. It showed a tall handsome man in a long black coat, trimmed in white, he had two samurai swords, katana, at his hip but was posed with two silver handguns with a kid at his back, a wrap of paper covered in writing, twisting about him and an ofuda in his hand. They were in a battle pose.

Behind them a great crucifix stood proud with the light behind it and wires dripping from it. The camera zoomed quickly into the man's face, and he winked before firing straight into the lens.

There was a super fast montage of the two of them fighting monsters with some kick ass kung fu, including shooting a monster through the air before drawing his sword and ripping it in two. The child slammed his fist into the ground as two great dragons made of light and symbols like the Seal of Solomon circling around him.

The music was a mix of trance and heavy rock with a Japanese man singing about, according to the subtitles, forgetting who you are in the heat of the moment.

Then the crucifix flashed up again and then the word "Supernatural." across the bottom it read _ "Dai Ikka, Abandon all hope" _

The entire effect it aimed at was spoiled by Dean lying on the couch killing himself laughing, "it's a cartoon!"

Sam smacked him on the arm, "it's an anime!" he hissed in much the same way as a religious fanatic might consider saying the word heathen, in fact the only thing the inflection seemed to lack was woodpiles and burning torches.

Bobby made a point to try and vanish into his trucker cap, by lowering his chin into his neck and letting the peak cover most of his face before he mumbled idjits and for them to shut up and watch this after all there might be some secret contained there to defeat all the evil in the universe, Bobby, personally, would have been happy with just keeping them occupied and out of his liquor cabinet for a few hours.

On the screen the tall man in the black coat shot about a thousand rounds into the youma which jerked and fussed in the onslaught before exploding into a cloud of black smoke.

The kid who had been holding the youma in place with the ofuda, which disintegrated in a quick blue blaze as soon as the monster was gone, said "oh no," catching a glimpse of the time from the watch on his wrist, "I'm going to be late for school." He was already pulling his black overcoat off, over his head in fact, to reveal the school uniform underneath. "I can't be late again, Aniki," he whined the name out, "you've got to help."

The kid, who was obviously meant to be Sam, had a shock of scarlet hair, black eyes and, worryingly, a large bandage on his cheek. He had those huge anime eyes and stood less than shoulder height on his brother, who had that tall bishonen look going for him.

"Hold your horses, Samako-hime," Dean said as he holstered the twin pistols in their thigh holsters, "we've got plenty of time, it's barely half past."

"Dean," the kid whined, in what the real Dean considered a very close facsimile of the original, "you didn't wind your watch again, did you, it's five to."

Dean, a tall figure with a shock of spiky purple-silver hair, cut off a curse word, "k'so," which wasn't translated then "fucking watch," which was. "Come on, Otousama will have both our hides if you're late for school again."

Even as he undid his coat he was practically running to the slick black bike he had left in the alleyway, Sam was shoving his things into his satchel. Under the regulation black coat he had been wearing his gakuran, a black sailor suit with white flap and red trim. He even had a red neckerchief.

On the couch Dean had his fist in his mouth to try and stop himself laughing.

He swung up on the bike with Sam pulling on a pink helmet with kitty ears behind him.

On the couch Dean looked like he was about to rupture a lung laughing. Sam's face was drawn tight so his mouth resembled nothing more than a cat's ass.

"Hey Bobby," Dean said into the helmet and the microphone obviously hidden there as he started the engine, "we took it out, it's all good, but we've got to jet, or Sam will be late again."

On screen Bobby laughed, and on the couch Dean erupted. Bobby was a woman, in fact, Bobby wasn't just a woman, Bobby was a babe in a black all in one that was open in a white vee down the front, ended in hot pants and thigh length white heeled boots. Her hair was in a rather severe parting to the left and swept down over her forehead, "well, just make sure not to get caught speeding, your dad will have your hide, and try to get to university on time, Dean, we need you to start research on your new case, the Kamimon."

"Sure, Bobby," he continued into the helmet as he drove the bike at break neck speed through the morning streets of Tokyo, "you know, you could meet me for a coffee, discuss the case."

Bobby's laugh was throaty, "in your dreams, kid," she said and ended the call.

The real Bobby moved his wheelchair, "I need a beer," he said, pausing the dvd, "and someone needs to watch this in case it reveals anything interesting."

"But," Dean protested, "Bobby, you're a babe!" he exclaimed, "and Sam's a baby," and that was it, he was lost to laughing again,

When Bobby came back he offered a second bottle of beer to Sam, but none to his brother, instead Dean got a pointed look and they pressed play on the dvd again.

On screen Dean dropped off his brother at school just before the bell rang, meaning that he had to run to change his shoes before class, but slid into his chair just before the teacher came in. "Mister Winchester," the teacher drawled, "in your seat before class, this must be a new record, lets see it's Tuesday and you've only been late once this week." He had a sour face and a yellow tie. "I imagine that hoodlum brother of yours drove you here on that devil bike of his."

"Yes, Sensei," Sam said with his eyes downcast, used to this scolding, even when he was on time he got scolded it seemed.

"So I imagine you've not got your books again," Sam nodded, if he had a mission before school he was so busy making sure he had the things he needed for an on the spot exorcism he often forgot his workbooks. "You can share with Ishikura-kun."

"Oh, he's a demon," Dean piped up from the couch. "No teacher's that nice." Sam smacked him on the arm again to be quiet.

At the university, a rather scary brick building with a clock out front, Dean was, in jeans, an orange ribbed roll neck sweater and combat bootsm talking to a girl in jeans and a cashmere sweater. Her hair was hot pink, and she was fixated on the man talking to her, when his cell rang. With a wink he told her that he had to "take this, babe," and excused himself.

"Bobby," he said excitedly into the video message. Bobby had swept half of her hair into a tail, and was wearing a suit and wire rimmed glasses. "What have you got for me?"

"I just got back from last night's crime scene." She said, "that's the third sarariman snipped in two, looks like a standard Miss Murder."

Dean cursed under his breath. "They're always a pain." He told her. "Got any info on where she's haunting, we can take her out tonight." He walked over to the fountain, "what kind of idiot summons a Miss Murder?"

"The first victim it looks like," Bobby agreed, "I'll text Sam and let him know you're going straight back out tonight."

"You sure, I mean how many Senboshi work for the order, and I don't mind going out again, but Sam's already behind with his schoolwork. I'll go out with Ichigo, or someone else."

"Sam's tested out of middle school, school work is the least of his problems." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, "there's you for example."

"Bobby, you wound me," Dean said with mock hurt, "I'll pick Sam up after soccer, and see what there is in the library here about Emems," he had a predator's grin, "maybe something that will make them a little less awkward to kill."

"Setting them on fire is always good," Bobby answered cheerfully, "oh, and bring back ramen." She said ending the call.

As the eyecatch flashed up on the screen Dean cackled, "at least Bobby's in character, even if he is a chick."

"I thought he was a babe," Sam said enjoying the joke now it was on someone else.

"Idjits," Bobby said in a tone that suggested either that he would murder them in his sleep or it was only a matter of time before this anime embarrassed the hell out of them too.

The first eyecatch, the picture book-ending the ad break, had been Sam holding out an ofuda as alchemic symbols circled behind him. The second was Dean doing some sort of gun fu which the real Dean appreciated because his character was bad ass, but he still talked through the exposition and minor youma battle of the second half of the episode. He only shut up when the Miss Murder, a shadowy figure with a giant pair of shears turned on Sam. "Get your hands off him, you bitch." The real Dean hissed right at the same time as his anime counterpart.

Anime Sam was thrown across the screen and real Dean leaned forward. Anime Dean ripped off his belt and used it as a whip, catching her giant shears with the end and yanked them clear out of her hand, "Sam, now!"

As Dean turned on the shears upon the shadowy woman she shrieked and ran up the wall. "Cool!" real Dean exclaimed leaning forward to see better.

From his pockets anime Sam pulled out an ofuda and began to chant, he put his foot down on the ground and an alchemic circle exploded from his sole, "Kazegami" he exclaimed, which appeared in the subtitles as Kazegami so they had no idea what it meant.

From the centre of the circle a woman emerged, created entirely of light, and wearing a wrap around her breasts and hakama, the wide legged riding pants of a samurai. Her hair was gathered in a tail, like a horses' at her back, as she raised her bow and shot a single giant arrow of air at the creature they were fighting.

The Miss Murder brought up her arms, thin stick like things to deflect the blow and Dean took the opportunity to turn her own shears against her, snipping off her head in a clean motion.

Her duty done, Kazegami bowed her head to Sam, offered him a soft wink, and then exploded into falling showers of light. "Yanno," Dean told his brother, as he put his arm around his shoulders, "she has to be my favourite of the celestial animal gods. She's definitely the hottest."

Real Dean turned to his brother, "and why can't you do that?" he asked.

"Because this is a cartoon," Sam corrected.

Dean grinned, "it's not a cartoon," he said, "it's an an-ee-may."

On the screen Sam pulled out his cell phone, which appeared to be some kind of mini laptop and put in the ear piece, before dialling. Instead of Bobby a blonde haired girl in a brown blazer with a green tartan kitten tie answered. She had two golden cuffs on the curve of each ear. She was blowing bubbles of pink gum. "Sam-kun," she said, "how'd it go?"

"Jo," Sam said happily, gushing just a little bit, obviously in this universe Sam had a crush on Jo. "We have a green light. The Miss Murder is eliminated. We're bringing back her shears for experimentation."

Jo popped another bubble. "I'll pass the message on, Sam-kun, Bobby-san said to remind you to bring back ramen, she's out investigating for another team."

"I, um," he said looking for the words, all large eyed and shy, his head down, "I had to use Kazegami. You'll need to tell Otousama."

"Daijobou," Jo popped another pink bubble. "See you at headquarters, slugger." She signed off.

"Oh, she is so out of your league," Dean said as he strapped the shears to his motorbike, "Samako-hime and Ichigo sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s," Sam stuck an ofuda to his brother's mouth sealing off whatever letters might have followed.

"She'd eat you alive," the real Dean said. Sam was forced to agree.

The credits, this time a much slower song, played as Sam, in his hot pink kitty eared helmet, climbed on the bike behind his brother.

"Oh my god," Bobby drawled in horror.

Sam reached behind him and pulled out his laptop, doing a quick internet search for the anime and then blanching at the hits he got. "Um, you know we thought the books were popular," he started. "I can get the satchel mini-me," he looked offensively at the screen, "is using, and the pink kitty motorcycle helmet."

Dean leaned over to see what he had found, which was an entire store dedicated to "Supernatural" merchandise. "Ooh," he said, "where's that new card, I have to get me a Dean maquette."

"You don't even know what a maquette is," Sam accused, "but the resin Bobby figure is gorgeous."

"Forget the beer," Bobby said wheeling his chair out of the room, "we need hard liquor for this. Damn Winchesters, damn prophets of the lord, damn boobs."

"Ah, but Bobby," Dean called out, "those are a fine pair of boobs, you shouldn't resent them so much." Sam laughed at that as the book went sailing at his brother's head. He laughed even harder when the paperback that thit him turned out to be one of Chuck's.

The second episode started with a man going into a room in a bathhouse, a soapland Sam was keen to point out, with a lovely young lady with russet coloured ringlets and a silky peignoir over her lingerie. She was even wearing stockings, suspenders and slinky high heels. "But, Yamada-san," the girl gushed, running her hands up and down his chest. The man in question, Yamada-san, was fat, sweaty with a bald head not entirely unlike a bullet, he wore a yukuta which she pressed open over his fat shoulders. "You're too good to me, I could just eat you all up." As she licked her cherry red lips he started to melt into her touch, literally, the skin folding and pouring like clay. Yamada-san opened his mouth but no sound came out as she pressed him against the wall, rubbing herself against him until he was completely gone, and the only thing left was his flip flops and his yukuta. As she flicked out her curls the credits rolled. i&gt;Dai Nikka, the screen read, _The City of Woes._

"Oh wow," the real Sam said, "the theme music was done by Dir en Grey." Dean just gave him a long suffering look as if he couldn't take him anywhere. "It's a big thing."

Dean's look was skeptical, "sure thing, Samako." Then he screwed up his face, "wasn't that the girl in Ringu?"

Bobby looked at the bottle in his hand, and then put the glass down to the floor to the side, drinking straight from the lip. He was too old and too sober to cope with this right now. Sam just ignored them both.

On screen Dean drove his bike down a quiet alley and then through a pair of wrought iron gates marked with all sorts of protective sigils into an underground parking garage. He pulled off his black helmet and shook out his silvery lilac hair in a practised flick, then unzipped his leathers and slipped his rucksack around to carry it in his hand. Bobby waited against the pillar. "D'ya get the information, kid?"

Dean grinned, "don't I always?" he threw the rucksack at her, she caught it in mid air. "Now, why are you meeting me down here and not in the conference room?"

"Sam had a training accident, Erin took him to the hospital," Dean growled, "he broke his wrist." Bobby remained nonchalant even as Dean slipped into an obvious combat posture, "and you have a briefing."

"What the hell happened to my little brother?" Dean's voice was a low gravel and his eyes were narrow.

"He missed a jump, put his hand out to catch himself, snapped his wrist," Bobby replied calmly, throwing her hair over her shoulder, as she turned to the stairs. "He's with Erin," and that was answer enough. She reached into the rucksack and pulled out the notebook, looking over his notes. "I'll put this in the database for the other Senboshi."

"I want to check on my brother," Dean said as he went into the elevator where Jo was lolling against the wall, twisting one ringlet about her finger as she sucked on a red lollipop, her back was deliberately arched but the whole effect was ruined by her shapeless brown school blazer although her kitten tie matched her pleated skirt, and white leg warmers.

"Sammy's fine," she drawled, "you could wait here, with me."

Bobby raised an eyebrow and continued to read the documents that Dean had given her. "Ichigo-kun," Dean said, "I have a briefing, and there isn't a creature out there that the order hunts that is more frightening than your Mom."

\---

The briefing room was dark apart from a projector from the ceiling, and there were chairs along one wall. John Winchester came in just after Bobby, Ichigo and Dean, wearing a long black mission coat with the same white trim as both of his sons. Over his heart was the Order Sigil, but he had two katana at his hip, and a shotgun strapped to his thigh. He looked more angular than the other characters and had a beard. "Bobby," he said indicating she start the brief.

A hologram appeared in the centre of the room, "this is Yamada Hiroshi, he's missing. He vanished from the Cherry Blossom Soapland. This was passed to us because all of his belongings were left behind, down to his shoes. He is the third business man this has happened to, although there has been no ransoms or attempts on their money despite all three being very wealthy. Dean, you're going to go undercover and find out what happened, then destroy whatever it is. Do you have any questions."

"No, Otousama," Dean lowered his head.

"Whilst Sam is at the hospital you're going in on your own. Bobby will make sure your credentials are in place. Ichigo-kun, the training room is free if you want to take the opportunity to polish your skills." Even as he left it was clear that that was an order.  
\-----------

Dean walked through the Soapland wearing a robe and a pair of headphones, it covered the kevlar battlesuit he was wearing underneath it. Smuggling himself in had been the easy part, he'd used the fire escape, went through the window and appropriated the robe that hung on the hook on the way past.

He was also openly appreciating the view of lovely young ladies in rather slinky lingerie. He grabbed a fruit drink from one of the passing servers and settled in to watch the show.

This was strictly reconnaissance for two reasons, one they weren't sure what was actually attacking the patrons of the soapland and two his back up was currently out of action with a snapped wrist.

Imagine his surprise when the blonde girl in front of him turned around and he found himself looking at Ichigo, who had also clearly snuck in, despite being told to sit out this mission. Dean had two very clear reactions, one to wrap her in the robe he had stolen and two to drag her out of here by her hair. Her mother was going to kill him.

"You are going to get us both killed," he hissed, looping his arm through hers and giving a very fake smile. "You were told to sit this one out."

"I'm just as well trained as you are," she hissed back through a fake smile, "I can do this."

"You're not here for two reasons, one you'll blow my cover on what is strictly recon, and two, your mother will have my hide when she sees what you're wearing, because you know it will be my fault." He started to guide her to a door. "Are you even armed?"

"I've got a dillinger and a knife," she answered brandishing the knife as he pushed her into the hallway, before shedding his robe and draping it over her.

"Oh, honey," a female voice said behind him, he turned to see the girl with the russet ringlets from the teaser at the start of the episode, "look at that little pig sticker, is that all for me?"

Dean grabbed the knife's hilt from Ichigo's thigh, "run!"

The eyecatch flashed onto the screen.

"Thank god for that," Dean said getting up from the couch with a groan, "I need to piss like a racehorse."

"Dean," Sam said, "remember that conversation we had about what was suitable for out loud thoughts."

"Bite me, Samako." Sam just bitch faced at him. "Bobby," Bobby opened one eye under the peak of his trucker cap, where he would later swear he was just resting his eyelids, and not sleeping, "what does Hee-may mean?" he mangled the pronunciation.

"Princess, idjit." Bobby snarled, and then swallowed another large mouthful of his 100 proof special Dominican Republic unlabelled local rum. "Seems he calls you princess too." Then clutching his bottle like a lifeline he closed his eyes again muttering about princesses, idjits, boobies and goddamn Winchesters.

Luckily the second eyecatch, the Dean one, had appeared, but Dean had yet to return from the bathroom, so Sam went back to searching for the anime on the internet. It was a process hampered by the fact that supernatural was a keyword in the description of just about every other anime ever made.

The more he looked at the stuff the more he actually liked the idea of getting the Order decal for the back of his laptop, he mused on the idea, Dean did want the maquette of his character standing in full battle pose with his twin guns. Of course they didn't have anywhere to put it.

The website he was using, which appeared to be fan run but offering official merchandise, including Dean and Sam UFO catcher dolls, whatever they were, had a link to something called yaoi. Not wanting to disturb Bobby again with what might be a stupid question, even if he did speak Japanese, Sam clicked on the link.

Then quickly clicked back with a yelp. It was one thing knowing that people like Becky fantasised about the thought of him and Dean having sex, but this lot not only fantasised about it, and wrote it, but wrote it in illustrated comic form even though their Sam was underage and clearly crushing on Ichigo-Jo. In fact, now he thought about it, trying not to focus on the heavily explicit picture, in which he had managed to get his leg over his head - seriously wtf there - but he had seen Bobby/Jo thereby proving that oranges were clearly not the only fruit where this lot were concerned.

He was wondering if there was a way to look this stuff up without involving brain bleach, and he looked at mouldy corpses for a living which was a standard to beat, when Dean came back in, with two bottles of beer and threw himself back down on the couch, lifted the remote and pushed play.

On screen Dean had taken the knife from Ichigo and put himself between her and the russet haired woman who was clearly not human. Ichigo pulled a tiny dillinger pistol from the crux of her bra and fired. The woman's head exploded like clay, and then in one of the most disturbing things Sam had ever seen on the television, reformed as she licked her lips.

"Jo," Dean repeated, "Run!" Fluffy mules or not Ichigo ran with Dean right behind her.

She dove out of a window, white robe flapping behind her, grabbed the power line and swung unto the fire escape of the opposite building. Dean was not far behind her, hampered though he was by a pair of flip flops.

As the russet haired woman watched, they both kicked off the offending shoes and ran down to the motorbike that Dean had parked up nearby.

Back at the Order Dean pushed Ichigo into the building, "I should have your hide, you could have gotten the both of us killed. You were told to stay here. Your Kaasan is going to kill me."

"You called that right," Erin said from the doorway. "Jo-kun, go to your room, and put some clothes on. I have told John about this stunt you pulled."

"I swear, Erin," Dean spread his hands, "I am not to blame, please don't kill me."

Erin was a tall slim figure in a brown dress gathered under her bosoms. She had a fringed wool shawl around her shoulders, her hair, like her daughter's was blonde, except for a clump just above her right eye which was the same dark brown as her dress. In her heels she stood almost as tall as Dean himself, but she dominated the entire Order, in fact only John Winchester himself didn't cow before her, and there were jokes that even he stepped lightly.

"I know, my daughter is wilful." She said, "she took the advantage of me visiting the hospital with your brother to disobey, however I have arranged with your father that you take extra training sessions. Now, Sam has been asking for you." With a click of her heels she turned and left through the stone arches of the Order.

Sam was sat on his bed wearing a pair of cotton pants and a vest that looked somewhat indecent. He had a heavy cast on his wrist and his hair slicked back. "Aniki," he said excitedly opening his arms for a hug.

"What happened?" Dean asked sitting down on the bed beside his brother.

Off screen Sam could see where the pictures on the internet were coming from.

Dean, rather than taking the hug he was offered, checked out his brother's wrist, and the magical designs that were already scrawled all over the plaster in marker pen. It had more protective symbols than the two iron gates at the entrance. "It's nothing," Sam said, "it doesn't even really hurt. Otousama said you could stay here tonight, will you, will you stay here tonight?"

"Sure thing, Sammy." Dean said, "anything for the baby."

"M'not a baby," Sam said, though the drugs had clearly made him dopey. "Just don'wanna be 'lone." He said settling down on the pillows.

"Yosh, Sammy, they gave you the good drugs, didn't they, now just sleep, sleep, I'm just going to get showered and join you, daijoubu." His tone was gentle but Sam, drugged up and tired was already asleep.

Dean was disturbed in his shower, which was blatant fanservice, by the alarms going off. He pulled on a pair of jeans and ran, barefoot, to his brother's room as the sprinkler's started.

Sam's room was decimated by fire, his head thrown back as he screamed and a kanji glowed bright red on his forehead. Dean launched himself at him and wrapped his arms about his waist, "come on, Sammy, come on, just a nightmare, Sammy, just a nightmare, shush, shush,"

"Aniki?" Sam asked dazedly. "Aniki?"

"Daijoubu, Sammy, daijoubu," then he picked him up and carried him into the courtyard, "your cast is going to get all soggy."

In the courtyard of the Order there was a broken fountain. "I want the girl!" the creature with the russet hair said from the gates, "I want the one who shot me!"

"What the fuck," Dean said, unarmed and facing the creature from the soapland.

"Aniki!" Sam's voice was high pitched, as a shot fired from behind them, Erin had a shotgun in her hands and Jo was wearing her battle gear for her extra training regimen. Erin fired a second volley into the creature whose head exploded, and then reformed like clay.

"Aniki!" Sam repeated, louder this time and then the red kanji reappeared on his face. Fire billowed around the creature, forming a red phoenix who twisted into a woman wearing a dress of red feathers, and then from the smoke she left behind a second woman appeared, made of ice, wearing darker coloured ice, and her hair was a mass of spikes.

"Otousama!" Dean called, "he can't control it."

"Now, Erin!" John called as Itegami, and Moegami, recognisable for the notes that appeared in a different colour in the subtitles, circled, freezing and then baking the creature.

Erin fired and the creature exploded, Sam was still in his brother's arms head back with the kanji blazing.

The credits started to roll.

"Fuck!" Dean said putting down his now empty beer bottle beside him, "it was just getting interesting."

"Might I ask what it is that you are doing?" Castiel said from behind them. Sam wasn't sure who jumped higher, him or Dean, Bobby just snuffled in his drunken stupor.

"God, Cas, every time!" Dean cursed, "I'd get you a bell but it wouldn't ring."

"I thought Bobby had wards to stop you just popping up in here." They had been installed after Bobby had threatened to have a heart attack just to prove his point.

"He did," Castiel replied, "I came in through the door, you were so fascinated by the television you did not notice although I did knock. You have been quiet for several days and I was wondering what it was that you were up to, for it is not usual for you not to tell me what it is you are doing even if it is nothing."

"Chuck sent us this," Sam told him, "it's an animated version of his books from Japan. We thought it might have clues." Dean snickered.

"The second gospel has appeared." Castiel intoned solemnly.

"Second?" Sam looked a little surprised, "how many are there?"

"There are over three hundred over the life of Jesus Christ," Castiel said. "Might I join you? although I am a fan of the prophet's works I have not yet had the pleasure of this version."

"Sure," Dean laughed, opening his second beer bottle, "although you're not in it, Sam's a kid and Bobby's a babe."

"And how have they interpreted you?" Castiel had learned, somewhere, the art of raising his eyebrow not unlike Mr Spock from Star Trek, and for pretty much the same reasons.

"I'm Batman!" Dean gloated.

"This is episode three," Sam interrupted looking up from the laptop on his knee, "it's called Sighs and Lamentations."

On screen a man in a trench coat stood in the shadows to the left of a street light smoking a cigarette. He stubbed it out as the house to the left came into view showing a light in a window beside a big tree. As the light switched off he grinned and appeared in the room which happened to be a nursery. A baby lay in the crib, little fists beside his head, the figure leaned over and whispered "Kai-Jin!"

A kanji glowed bright on the baby's forehead and flames erupted from the cradle, in the fire light the man's eyes glowed a rather sickly yellow as the mother, a blonde woman in a white night dress appeared in the window. "You," she said angrily. The man smiled and then the flames engulfed her.

A character clearly recognisable as a young John Winchester fought his way through the flames and grabbed the baby, who a female figure dressed in feathers was circling protectively. "Daijoubu," he murmured softly, "daijoubu," and the flames lowered enough for them to escape.

The credits started.

Dean was in full battle gear and kicking, shooting and slashing his way through a collective group of shadow imps as Bobby watched on screen. He was getting better and faster by the day.

John walked up behind her. "Did you get the information I requested?" his voice was cold and stentorian. On screen Dean cocked his ear slightly and then used one of the whirling blades as a foot hold as the floor collapsed out from underneath him.

"Dean got the last of it from the university where he's studying with Dr Asakawa." She didn't take her eyes off the screen at all, "he won't even talk to us, but Dean seems to make him open up, you were right to get him to study there." On screen Dean used a volley of pistol fire to lanch himself higher. "You were right, the Zodiac have appeared before, so there must have been a Kamimon to summon them."

"When?"

"1906," Dean used his left katana to propel himself into the next knot of enemies, "San Francisco, it wiped the city out, it was recorded as an earthquake. There are other singular sightings of the entities since then, almost always accompanying some natural disaster or another. They are mostly recorded as death omens."

"I see." John said, completely ignoring the training session on the screen where Bobby didn't take her eyes off for it a moment. The room looked somewhat like the Danger room from the X-men.

"There's something else." She lifted a piece of paper from the console and passed it over her shoulder to him. "One of Sam's teachers grabbed me today as I was picking him up, she's worried about him, between the bruises and cuts and now this."

The paper was a very lovely sketch of 13 women in various states of undress, however there was not a single flash of nudity in them all. Three of the women had appeared in the show before, Itegami, the ice maiden, Moegami, the fiery phoenix and Kazegami, the Samurai Archer.

"To our knowledge Sam has manifested only four of the zodiac, the rooster, the mouse, the horse and the bull, but I've checked, his depictions match those from history."

"I see," John said.

"There are two pictures," Bobby said and passed him the second piece of paper which showed four men in traditional Chinese battle armour, one with a sword, one with a spear, one with two knives and one with a bludgeon. "I don't even know who these ones are. I think Sam might be getting more dangerous, we might have to actually tattoo the designs unto his skin to hold him back."

John put down the paper, and looked at his son on the screen, "if it comes to it, Dean is a good soldier, he will kill his brother." John turned, his black coat not even flaring around him. "And Bobby, there are reports of a woman in white near Akiba, out towards Himuro, send them to deal with it."

Bobby didn't answer, just continued to watch Dean on the monitor. "And Bobby, I think Sam might be old enough to start training in the Dark Arena." Bobby pursed her lips in disapproval but said nothing.

\-----

"A Woman in White," Dean snarked into his motorcycle helmet, "come on, Sam, even Ichigo can take out a Woman in White."

"But, Aniki, Otousama said we were to do it." Like Dean Sam clearly had a microphone inside his pink kitty helmet. "And it's a nice ride out to Akiba, we might go on the big wheel when we're done."

"Shall I also get flowers for your hair, Samako-hime, perhaps some pretty lanterns, yukuta with gold fish on?" Dean asked. "Now, do you have everything we need, knives,"

"Yes, aniki."

"Holy water, religious symbols, spare ofuda?"

"Yes Aniki."

"And what do you do if the thing lunges you?"

Sam sounded defeated as he said, "roll out of the way and let you deal with it."

In front of them the woman in white materialised on the highway causing Dean to veer and skid the bike on it's side, but by the time it had come to a stop both of them had dismounted and the Woman in White was gone.

"Frigging monsters," Dean said as he coaxed the bike to a standing position, "did she hurt you, baby?" He was actually caressing the paintwork.

"One of these days, aniki, she is going to answer you and then we're going to have to shoot her."

"Shoot my baby?" Dean was horrified. "Now let's get the bitch that scratched my paintwork."

The eye catch appeared on screen.

Sam held up the remote control for the DVD player. "Anyone need a bathroom break, more beer, pizza maybe?"

Dean contemplated it. "More beer," he decided and went back out to the kitchen.

"You know, Cas," Sam said to the angel, "this really isn't even close to how it went down. Are you sure it's a gospel?"

"There are aspects of it which are true." Castiel said quietly as Dean put something, popcorn probably, into the microwave with a slam and then the press of digital buttons. "Those are not featured in the other Winchester Gospels, and there will be those that come later which will feature other truths."

"I can't summon half naked ladies."

"Wish you could!" Dean said hanging from the kitchen door.

"Might get some work done 'round here if you did," Bobby snarked half asleep and grouchy, "though it would probably just mean more mouths to feed."

"Oh papa bear has woken up grouchy, perhaps someone's been sleeping in his bed." Dean said with a laugh as he came in with more beer and a bowl of popcorn.

"But, Dean, he was asleep in his chair." Castiel corrected, completely missing the reference. Bobby said nothing, he just offered the angel the bottle he was holding. Interestingly it was labelled Holy Water. Castiel took a smell from the bottle before he took a large mouthful. He offered the bottle straight back to Bobby, but to neither of the Winchesters.

"What are we on about now? Episode 8, 9?" Dean said planting himself back on the couch with the popcorn, this time between Castiel and his brother.

"Three." Sam gloated and pushed pause, holding out the remote with the left hand as the right plunged into Dean's popcorn.

On screen Dean had drawn one of the two swords and stood between where the ghost had appeared and his younger brother. "Yeah," real Dean said through a mouthful of popcorn, "like that will help."

"According to the wiki," Sam corrected, "the swords are made of star metal and are demon forged, they're like the knife in the real world, they can kill most things. Dean got them from something called the Dark Arena, there's a chapter in the manga which explains this. Apparently Erin and Jo can open the portal to the Dark Arena through some sort of portal in their backs."

"Still, no good against ghosts." Dean never did like to be wrong.

"Hello, Sam-bocchan," a man said stepping out of the darkness in the anime. He wore a pale trench coat and his face was mostly shadowed, but his eyes were lemon yellow and sickly. "You don't remember me, but my name is Okiiro and I've been looking for you for a very long time."

He stepped forward again, the Woman in White hovering behind him with her hair wrapped around her hands in a position that would have been painful if she were not dead. Her kimono, clearly the one she had been buried in, was tattered, torn and blood and muck stained. She was infinitely creepier than the youkai she was shadowing. Her feet were all mucky and twisted in.

"There's something very important I have to say to you, Sam," he was ignoring the older brother completely. "Kaijin!"

Sam's power rocketed out of control, sending billows of flame about around him as the kanji lit up on his forehead.

Dean launched himself at his brother, forcing him to the ground as the flame wrapped around the youkai like a blanket. The youkai only laughed and was gone, leaving the body he had been wearing behind like an old coat to be completely consumed by the supernatural flames which burned blue at the edges.

Sam, bathed in his power as he was threw his brother off and began to chant, the start of it wasn't translated, apart from a note that suggested something about nonsense noises and subvocalisations, and then clearly said "Rin, Zai, Zen, Tachigami."

The fire formed around him, burning silver white, and formed, like liquid filling a cup, into a Valkyrie in silver armour, her hair was white blonde and she had two wings on the side of her helmet. From her back she pulled a long sword and stepped back laying herself across the now standing Sam like a transparency. Sam pressed fingertips to the palm of his broken wrist through the cast, and pulled out a sword, his movements echoed by the silvery valkyrie who was overlaid with him.

Then armed and guarded as he was by the goddess he had summoned, he looked at the Woman in White and crooked his fingers in a challenge. The woman in white cast back her head, her face twisting and jerking and she whispered something that the subtitles suggested she might say "tasukutete" which meant Help me.

The whole scene was disturbing. Sam was moving like a marionette with motions directed by the goddess who was wearing him like a silver covered body condom. Dean pulled out his two pistols, the katana vanishing wherever they went in anime, and opened fire.

The woman in white just jerked with each bullet but it didn't even slow her. Sam, kissing close to her now, just pushed the sword through her, then his other hand cupped her face, the valkyrie tilted her head and whispered something in her ear. The translator made another note that in the manga that Sam said "I forgive you" but whatever he said here was silent.

The woman in white threw her head back and screamed as light exploded from her, first from her mouth, eyes and ears, and then through the very pores of her skin until she shredded into fragments like pieces of old paper that caught on the wind. "I'm sorry," Sam said and the goddess whirled around him one last time, like a comet or a falling star, and then left him standing there on the bridge, for two long seconds before his knees gave out.

Dean caught him before he hit the ground.

Back in the order Erin sat on a couch whilst John Winchester stood at the window overlooking the street. "We must bear in mind that Sam might become too powerful." John said, "we may have to hunt him."

"He's your son." Erin said calmly, she was drinking tea from a cup and saucer.

"Can we trust Dean to pull the trigger?" John asked, "if we need to save the world sacrifices must be made, Erin, you know that, even Sam. Needs must as the devil drives, and needs must."

"You need to give him more time, Sam-kun's a good boy."

John lowered his head. "Maybe, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

The credits started to roll with their slow, sweet ending music.

"You know the ending track is done by Kimeru," Sam said looking up from the laptop.

"Is that a big deal too?" Dean just grinned. Sam didn't bother to tell him that he didn't know that one either, even if he had heard of Dir En Grey. Then he laughed, "Oh, god, that's great, Dir En Grey are signed to Free Will records." Neither Dean nor Castiel found that funny as the DVD player spat out the disk.

"Onwards, Sammy," Dean said pointing a finger, "we shall enter the brave new world of disk 3."

"2," Sam corrected putting the laptop on the arm of the chair and then bending down to change the disk.

It took a few moments for the player to notice it had been given a command, and spit out the disk, then more to notice there was another disk added before deciding after what felt like a small eternity to play it. Unlike the first one, which had cut straight to episode 1, this disk had a menu, and the menu was overlaid on a picture which although not explicit had definite yaoi overtones.

In it, Sam, in battle regalia, was sat against the wall where his brother's coat hung, he was staring out into the camera as if in challenge with the hem of the coat held between his fingers to his nose, where he was clearly sniffing it. The picture was erotically charged and dared the viewer to comment.

Dean shrieked like a girl who had seen a mouse. "Can't unsee! Can't unsee!" He said clapping his hands over his eyes in an extreme show of melodramatic horror. "God damn fangirls and their Sam slash Dean fetishes."

Castiel tilted his head, "I believe in this case that it would be Dean slash Sam, as Sam is clearly intended to be the bottom due to his height difference."

Dean turned to Cas, "shut up," he said as the menu finally vanished into the fourth episode.

On screen a teenage girl with rather unique hair, it was in pigtails and although she was blonde one side was red and the other royal blue with a golden halo, was dressing an oversized fashion doll. The doll had mismatched eyes and had it's hair arranged in two knots over which she was tying pieces of cloth to give a facsimile of cat ears. "There we go, Alice," the girl said, "all pretty now." She picked the doll up in her arms, despite the fact that it was clearly about two foot tall.

As the girl turned around it became clear that the room she was in, which looked like a traditional Japanese dojo, had been ruined by the slaughter which had taken place there. People were dismembered although clever lighting and camera work hid the worst of the horror. "Doesn't Alice look pretty?" the girl asked. There was no answer, "how rude," the girl stamped her foot in frustration, "now Megu is angry, you don't want to make Megu angry, do you, Alice, well, we're just going to have to find some new toys as we've broken these ones, aren't we?" The doll blinked and smiled.

The episode was called Deed in Silence and it started with a "previously on Supernatural montage" which mostly included baby Sam using the billowing fire to blow out his nursery window and then the Youkai on the bridge triggering it again. It wasn't something Sam had needed to see the first time so repeating it didn't really make it comfortable.

The meat of the episode started with Sam arriving at school as the girls in the same uniform as him, which really was quite cute with it's sailor flap and chunky socks, although different from the one that Ichigo wore being black and red, not brown and green, sighed. "You need me to walk you to class, Sammy?" Dean asked pulling off his helmet to make the girls swoon. It was patently clear that he not only knew the effect it had but was playing on it, he even winked at Nana who had previously brought him bento for his lunch. Sera had given him a love note and Mitsuki had knit him a scarf. Dean liked the flattery but never took it anywhere.

"Aniki!" Sam protested in embarrassment as he stowed his helmet.

"You could escort me," Tohru said piping up, Tohru was clearly not a shy girl. "I wouldn't mind."

"Ah," Dean said, "but you're not my otouto." He ruffled Sam's hair for effect. "See ya later, Sammy." Then he pulled his helmet back on, and revved up the bike.

"Who's that," the new girl, distinctive with her blue and red pigtails, asked.

"That's Winchester-san," the boy beside her said, "and his little brother Sam." The girl wore the same black uniform Sam did, it made her look young and vulnerable. "All the girls love Dean."

Megu's smile was cruel as she said "I've noticed."

\---

As Dean walked into the university office where he did most of his work he noticed Asakawa-sensei had left the television on the news. "...Ible gangland killings of eight people at the Sohma-Dojo. Police who discovered the scene are on the look out for a group of..." Dean switched the tv off and lifted the book he was studying upon the ancient gods of China.

Opening his notebook revealed a rather detailed sketch of the Valkyrie Tachigami, or the sword goddess of the Rat. The notes said, according to the translator, about manifestations of the Thirteen Zodiac gods and how rarely blessed children who could summon them were. Also mentioned in his notes was a theoretical Great-child who bore a certain symbol on their foreheads which caused their power to grow exponentially, these children were called Kamimon, or God crests, and of them none was more powerful than Okamimon, who bore the crest of the Great God itself and could, if unwatched, open the very doors to Hell. To close those doors a human being had to willingly sacrifice himself. On screen Dean underlined this. Then opened another book and began making notes. "Winchester-kun," one of the professor's, Kazuhiko-Sensei, said, "do you have the notes I asked for on the funerary processes of," Dean closed his book with a start.

"Yes, Sensei," he said and let his personal research wait in order to fulfil his studies with the honoured professor.

\---

Back in his class Sam was reading in English, which was inadvertantly comic because his pronunciation was terrible, it sounded like a KGB agent from the sixties ransoming Meester Darcy, the subject of the reading, for one million dollars. "This voice actor sucks," Dean complained from the couch. "Who is this?"

"I'll look it up," there was a clicking of keys, then Sam went very quiet.

Dean, who was wedged between his brother and the angel looked over. "Sammy's a princess!" he exulted, "he's got a girl actor."

Cas looked at Bobby's bottle of Holy Water meaningfully, as if it held all the answers of the universe, but said nothing.

On screen Sam was asked to stay behind to help clean up the art room by one of the girls that the real Sam thought might be Mitsuki, but he wasn't sure. Sam agreed and Megu offered to stay as well, even though it wasn't her turn either.

The eyecatch appeared and Dean groaned. "I swear, every time it gets going this happens."

"It's a commercial break," Sam corrected him.

"Yeah, but now we have to wait for lickle Sammy to get his ass kicked by a girl."

"As I remember," Sam answered, "we have all had our asses kicked by that girl, even if she didn't have psycho hair."

"I like it," Castiel said, "I like the colours." Both brothers looked at him, "I also imagine it would be impractical in real life which makes it more precious."

Dean just laughed, "only you, Cas, would like crazy Manga-hair."

"I notice that your character does not have "manga-hair," in fact he has the hair that you will have as an old man."

"Yeah, well," Dean started, "you're not even in it, and I imagine if you are you'll have waist-length blonde hair like most men in manga." Castiel flicked his head like a model in a Pantene Pro-V advert in a way that suggested he wouldn't mind that at all.

On screen Megu was muttering something that caused her shadow to physically roil, then flap like one of those magic fish that you could find in Christmas crackers that were made of film. It was a strange analogy but the only one that Sam could think of. "There's my Kage," Megu said fondly, "now I know we had to wait, but Megu has a present for you, anyone left in the school, anyone, you can eat, you'll like that won't you, no one spoils you like Megu does."

With a final flick the "Kage", the translator had left the word untranslated, seperated itself from her feet and then squirmed along the floor and up the wall. It slithered along as Dean made a comment that it resembled nothing more than Venom from Spiderman. The camera tracked the inky Kage in a nauseating spiral that would have been impossible in live action, with a sort of crinkled dirt encrusting around the edges as if looking through the creature's eyes in a noirish black and grey.

He saw a girl, the one that Sam thought might be Sera, and the screen flashed red for a whole second before it lunged and the creature tore the girl apart like confetti in a shower of bright white. It turned from it's feast when footsteps approached but then grinned, it's mouth white with blood, as it realised it was Megu who had made a point to "discover" the body. She let the Kage swallow and then slink back into her shadow before she screamed. When it became apparent that people were further away than she thought, she counted to five on her fingers and screamed again.

Sam was one of the first to answer, sprinting around the corner with the girl who had asked him to help clean up the art room beside him, the one who might be Mitsuki. Might-be-Mitsuki screamed as Sam took control, he made sure to not step in the blood, which was pond sized now, to pull the fire alarm but not activate the sprinklers. It would empty the school and alert the emergency services as Sam rooted around in his pockets for his cell.

Megu put her arm through Sam's as if she was terrified, "who, who could do this?"

"I don't think it's a who," Sam said without thinking, "I think it was a what."

As the cell connected he brought it to his ear, over Megu's head, "Bobby, it's Sam, I'm at school, we have a situation here. Class A." Then he closed the cell and dialled the police. "I need the police," he said sounding fret and scared, "I'm at Juuban Middle School, there's a, there's a body. Oh God, I think it's Sera."

By the time the police showed up Dean was there on his bike. He walked up to the detectives who were dressed like Cas, Sam noticed in trench coats with blue ties and perennial bed head, "I'm his brother, if you're done with him, can I take him home?"

The detective asked for ID which Dean happily showed him, "You make sure to take him straight home, he's had a terrible fright."

"Sure thing, detective." Dean said sounding only a touch mocking.

From the back of an ambulance Megu watched Dean hungrily and licked her lips, kicking her feet, the soles of her shoes were solid black.

The credits rolled.

"Hey, the monster got away," Sam said without thinking, "I didn't think that happened in anime."

"Obviously does, Sammy, 'cause it clearly did, and besides how long did she give us the run around the first time she came to call."

"Or that she is currently outside your grasp." Castiel added, "after all she is known for pledging her allegiance to demons much more powerful than she is."

"I just thought," Sam said as Dean got up for more beer.

"Sam, what have I told you about doing that," Bobby grumbled, "leave the thinking to the grown ups."

"I thought you were asleep," Sam said as Dean brought in more beer, although at the rate they were going it was going to involve Cas bamfing to Walmart for more by episode 6.

"Show's what happens when you think," Bobby grumbled from under his cap.

According to the wiki page, which was surprisingly empty of information, because "Supernatural" was more popular as a manga apparently but there weren't many translators working on it, and it "might" get an official release if Funimation picked up the anime, the episode was called "Stone within I grew." The titles were in English and were quotes from Dante allegedly although they were so slight they could be quotes from a Bon Jovi album and it would still be plausible. He considered telling Dean that just for the shit fit he'd throw which would be entertaining to watch through the end credits.

There were only special times that Dean appreciated Bon Jovi, and they had more to do with his mood, the weather and wanting to squawk along in the car than were going to be applicable here.

On screen the teaser for episode 5 had started showing an armour plated creature snorting flames. "A catoblepas," Cas exulted.

"A what?" Sam asked.

"A bleep-ass. You don';t have to censor yourself for us, man, we've heard it all before."

"A cat-o-bleep-ass," Bobby grumbled, "it's a giant armoured bull whose gaze turns people to stone and can breathe fire."

Dean snickered and mumbled the words "cattle mutilations" under his breath as he sat back down between his brother and the angel. "Never faced one of those, can you skip, Sammy?"

"Not without going back to the menu," Sam lied.

"Never mind, we can watch it." Dean said fixing his attention on the screen fixedly.

Standing behind the bull creature was Okiiro, patting it's hide appreciatively as the city park before it burned. The credits were a welcome distraction from Dean's talking.

At the order John Winchester was telling his youngest son, who was wearing a tank to show off the cuts, abrasions and band aids all along his arm, ending in his cast, that he was to undergo more training before he was going into the Dark Arena. Sam argued with his father to be told "he was too young." Erin, who was watching, seemed confused by this.

Sam bristled like a cat that had a bucket of water dropped on it, with actual cat ears and tail, "I'm not too young!" he said, "I can do this!" He protested.

John towered over him. "I said no." he said and turned to go away.

"Otousama," Sam called out to his back but John didn't even waver.

"Looks like that's the same no matter what the universe," Sam muttered under his breath and opened another page on the web.

"Why is cartoon!Sam so battered?" Dean asked with a dark sounding hmmm, "someone's not looking after him properly."

Sam just ignored his brother, if the creators wanted to know why it looked like someone was beating the character they'd say. It was also patently obvious that Dean was bored unless his alterego was on screen.

Instead Bobby in white thigh high vinyl boots was investigating the fire and odd statues that had appeared in the park. It was clear that this was a monster of the week episode and that any character development would happen around the case. Sam wanted to train in the Dark arena, whatever that was, and John said no citing his youth. Obviously there was more to it, but anime wasn't exactly known for telling you everything you needed to know. Hell he remembered going to see "Akira" and coming out more confused than he'd been going in.

Something also told Sam that there were images of this Bobby on the internet in compromising positions with no clothes on, and those were probably just the official artwork. She was capable, competent and, Dean was right, kinda hot. There was something about a woman who could take care of business that appealed to him, then he remembered that this was Bobby and he needed to get laid more if he was having those kinds of thoughts, let alone about a cartoon character.

And Dean was still growling about the fact that animated Sam looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards which was even more stupid than finding animated Bobby hot. She had one of those black coats trimmed in white that both Sam and Dean had over her hot pant open shirt outfit and the police were happy to give up their information to her, which suggested that the Order had some backing indeed.

Perhaps they could form an Order over here, train hunters and have an official designation. Then he laughed, because it was ludicrous, hunters were, by their very nature, loners who hated any kind of central bureaucracy or government. It said something about Japan that that might be an option.

Dean was at university wearing his orange roll neck sweater with tight black jeans and black fingerless gloves, he was chatting up a girl who was clearly having none of it. "You know, Dean-kun," she said, "the only people to wear gloves like that are hobos and pokemon trainers."

Offscreen Sam made a noise that wasn't quite a laugh but not quite choking either.

Dean was not swayed, and at the same time Anime Dean and real Dean said "wanna see my pokemon?" with waggled eyebrows.

The girl looked indignant and then stomped off. On screen Dean just shrugged it off and opened his book.

"I do not see how showing a girl your pokemon collection could be construed as so offensive," Castiel said looking baffled, "Claire was a fan of them, I thought that they were types of playing cards."

Sam opened his mouth to answer but said nothing as on screen Dean was called out to help Bobby investigate. With a wink and a salute Dean left the girl at the university, taking his coat from his rucksack. It was the first time that the show had focussed on Dean's clothes and it was revealed to be double breasted and short at the front, but floor length at the back so it flared out like a cape when he climbed on the motorbike to go.

"Told you," Dean sniggered, "Batman."

"Yeah, but in that outfit you're more Dick Grayson than Bruce Wayne."

"La la la la," Dean said loudly indicating that it wasn't true and he wasn't listening under any circumstances which unfortunately had not meant the entire Batman RIP, Battle for the Cowl and following Batman and Robin series weren't canon, because as Sam had previously argued, la la la la was not a valid argument and DC clearly had their fingers in their ears.

When he got to the crime scene it was clear that Bobby was taking photos, she had magnifying glasses holding back her hair and was snapping prints on the ground. "What have we got?" Dean asked walking up to her after he parked the bike.

"Bull foot prints," Bobby answered, "and scorch marks, pieces of marble. It can mean only one thing." She looked pensive. "It looks like a higher type of youma, one of the makai, it's a catoblepas." Dean screwed up his face, "don't worry about it, handsome," she said patting him on the cheek, "it's well outside your paygrade."

"Oh, but Bobby-san," he protested, "you know I'm always good value for money." Dean managed to match his alter ego as he said, "I make sure you get plenty of bang for your buck."

"Oh, honey," Bobby said with a grin, "you haven't got nearly enough bang for this buck." She turned around so both her brown hair and her coat flared out in tandem.

This triggered the eye catch.

"They have caught your character well," Castiel said, "those of my brothers who had been placed to know the Second Gospel said that they had their doubts but I do think it is rather uncanny."

"You mean that he's a skirt chasing foul mouthed freak who likes to fight?" Sam asked. Dean stuck his tongue out at him.

"That he likes to flirt but means nothing of it, and likes to fight but sure in the knowledge he is doing it for the right reasons."

Dean looked at Cas for a long moment as if trying to divine his meaning before he turned his attention back to the anime on the screen. Sam just muttered "Dean-girl". On it Dean was taking Sam to the library to do more research.

"You know it's not fair," Real Dean said, "that Dean knows gun fu, and little Sam knows kung fu, what have we got?"

"Google-fu?" Castiel asked and reached into the popcorn bowl. Sam snickered and pretended he was fixed on the screen. Dean just stared at him, it seemed Cas was learning some pop culture references.

"Otousama says I am too young to use the Dark Arena for training, Aniki."

Off screen Dean grimaced expecting a row. On screen Dean's expression was covered by his helmet. "Otousama knows what he is doing in your training, after all Ichigo-kun has only started training on it."

"But Jo-kun's a girl." Sam winced glad that there were no women in the room to take umbrage at that, unless he counted Dean.

"Yes, but she's also two years older than you." Dean answered, "I think you could take the Dark Arena but that doesn't mean Otousama thinks it's safe. There are awful things there."

"I just want a weapon of my own." He said referring to Dean's twin star swords.

"And summoning the Zodiac Gods obviously don't count?" Dean snarked, "that's way cooler than fighting your way through a demon sewer to get a sword or two." He looked over his shoulder, "seriously, it's twenty levels of youma shit and shitty youma, Otousama knows what's he's doing."

"Aniki," Sam whined, thinking his brother might have his back on this. Then his tone changed, "What the hell?"

Standing in the middle of the road was a giant armour plated bull breathing fire.

"It's the cat'o'nine tails!" Dean looked so proud of himself for getting the name right that when Cas went to correct him Sam stopped him.

The catoblepas snorted out flames and pawed the ground with brass hooves. From the back of his jeans Dean pulled his twin pistols, having nowhere to hide his twin katana and guiding the bike with his thighs, opened fire. Sam knew what to do because he launched himself up and over the back of the bike landing with an ofuda in his hand, as Dean steered the bike and fired on the bull at the same time.

Sam chanted something and punched the ground and from his fist a Seal of Solomon drew itself around the bull, who just snorted. "Dont' take your helmet off," Dean said over the mike helmets, "that thing has a petrifying gaze."

"Aniki, it breathes fire, I am not taking my helmet off." Sam said backing up. It was fast becoming apparent that it was neither held back by the devil's trap or Dean's bullets. On screen Dean said something that wasn't subtitled so it must have been a swear word.

Sam came out with another muttered incantation before saying Moegami, summoning the phoenix fire lady. She dove at the catoblepas but her attack just melted into it and caused her to explode into a shower of sparks. Itegami erupted from the ground beneath Sam's feet in stalactites of ice. She linked her fingers before pushing her palms at the monster, encasing it's head in ice.

The catoblepas snorted and the ice fell away. Kazekami released an arrow of solid air but it just bounced off the catoblepas.

Dean was aiming the bike for a head on run as Sam called God after God, each one's attack being repelled. "Sorry, Sammy, but I have to try." He revved the bike to do a head on collision as Sam clearly screamed "Aniki," and then "Kaijin," which he knew would send his power out of control.

"Self sacrificing Winchesters," Bobby mumbled, "looks like that translated too."

The fire billowed around Sam before a series of alchemic symbols appeared and where he had summoned the goddesses of the zodiac he summoned something else now, something older and more primal, a great Turtle closed itself over him, a dragon twisted behind him, a tiger roared beside him as a great bird shrieked. Dean said that unsubtitled word again but Sam's head was cast back, the four animals forming men, three of whom were weapons and one of which was armour. The three men, one in white, one in blue, and one in red descended upon the catoblepas.

It didn't stand a chance. The man in white had tiger claws, - like Wolverine Dean exulted from the sofa - the one in blue had a great fiery whip that left ice crystals in its wake and the one in red, who had two feathery tails from his helmet, had a flaming sword. Between the three of them they turned the creature into beef patties as the turtle, formed into green armour, protected Sam entirely from it's gaze, breath and somewhat acidic blood.

Dean just held the bike upright, the engine still thrumming, and pulled off his helmet, he clearly said the unsubtitled word which was clearly a powerful curse word. Then he grinned, "Sammy, you rock!"

Sam couldn't answer his brother as he collapsed.

The credits started again. "Okay," Dean said, "that episode rocked, filler my ass."

Castiel frowned and went to say something.

"It's a term for an episode used to make up numbers," Sam butted in saving the angel from what would be a distressing situation for everyone involved, especially Sam. "According to the wiki the next ep is a filler, we can skip it if you want."

"What's the monster?" Dean asked.

"Youma pop star, takes power from people chanting her name," Sam read out.

Dean groaned, "which one of us kills her?"

Sam scrolled down, "you do, fancy sword action, their words not mine."

"Blah," Dean said, "skip it," it meant changing the disk but at least he didn't have to see the menu again.

The menu on the third disk made the first one look positively innocent. It had Dean, with his hair ruffled, leaning over Sam to kiss him, but Sam was staring out at the viewer, he was wearing a skin tight top that was laced up the side, although Dean was mostly out of shot, and heavy belts and pants. His arms were bandaged and there were scratches and bandaids, and his hands on Dean's shoulders. His lip was split and his expression was predatory, but Dean's eyes were focussed on Sam.

"Disemboweling crank." Dean said looking at the screen with a flat expression.

"Whuh?" Sam asked. "where did that come from?"

"It's what I'm going to do to Chuck." Dean said, tapping his fingers on his knee, "seriously. Then I'm going to do something nastier." He screwed up his mouth as Sam started the episode, "and it's going to take a long long time."

"He is protected by an archangel." Castiel pointed out, "and it is merely apocrypha created by what is truly a talented artist, she has caught their expressions wonderfully, although I did not know that Sam was so forward."

Sam, who had just taken a mouthful of beer, started to choke, bent forward and all anyone did was that Bobby slightly raised the peak of his cap to look at him, making sure he wasn't going to die, before pulling it down completely over his face.

The episode started with Megu visiting an old run down house with her doll, Alice, in her arms. She was dressed like a french maid but with a knee length skirt and black and white stockings under heavy black boots with buckles. The house had seen better years and there was a type of mould growing up one wall and the fence was broken. She pushed open the pocket door and went inside. All along along the wall were dolls, similar to the one in her arm, but each one unique.

On the floor in front of her a man was skinning the corpse of a teenage girl. "Mako-sama," Megu asked sweetly, "when will the new doll be ready? Father wants to know."

The craftsman, if that was what he could be called, looked up. "Tell Okiiro that art takes time, and this one," he patted the dead girl's chest, "will be worthy of even the bocchan and his brother."

The credits started.

"The what?" Dean asked. The translator hadn't bothered to change the word.

"Bocchan," Castiel commented, "it means young master, I can only assume it is how they refer to Sam instead of calling him the boy king."

"Why do I think I'll be the boy-king when I'm eighty," Sam groused to himself. "I'm just glad that this lot think _you_ like dolls for a change."

Dean answered. "Come on, it was priceless and it got us in to see them."

Sam glowered at his brother. "Oh like the dolls were even haunted."

"Come on, it could be worse, this is an anime, it could be tentacles." Sam turned the laptop to show him something. "Never mind." He added fixing his attention back on the screen where the credits were ending. The episode was called "Without Shame and without blame."

A delivery man carrying a large and rather unwieldy box under his arm rang the bell to the Order. Erin opened the gate looking elegant with an espresso cup in her hand. "Can I help you?"

"I've got something she can help with," Dean leered.

"That's Ellen." Castiel said calmly, "Are you sure she could help you with your problem?"

Dean just shifted in his chair as Bobby pointed out that she had been a fine looking woman. Then he lifted his bottle in a salute before taking another mouthful of his "holy water," both Winchesters lifted their beer bottles in the same gesture.

On screen Erin was signing for the package with a little wooden stamp before taking it, and the espresso she had handed to the delivery man, and leaving him in a cloud of perfume with a rather wistful look. The translators notes at the top pointed out that the parcel was for Ichigo and was from the Yoshinori Doll Company. The shipping notice appeared on screen as Erin inspected it.

Bobby came over to investigate when Erin placed the box on the office desk. "I didn't know Jo was into dolls." she said as she pulled a knife from her boot. "Nevertheless we can't take any chances." She slit the tape and opened the box. The doll was naked, with a bald head and empty eye sockets, cushioned on a silk pillow. The doll's joints were ball socketed and it was clearly a very expensive item.

It had an outfit and wig in plastic bags, and a small jewel facetted plastic box containing a pair of silicone eyes. As Bobby investigated the doll Erin checked the shipping invoice. "She won it," She said, "a contest on local radio," then she blinked in shock, putting the paper on the desk "It's worth three hundred thousand yen." She added, Sam whistled underer his breath, "they tell you for insurance purposes."

"It feels expensive," Bobby said lifting the doll out of the box, "the resin feels like real skin." Then she looked at Erin, "it's a shame to leave it naked like this, we can have it ready for her when she gets back from school."

Erin had already opened the plastic bag and was shaking out it's clothes, a white kimono lined in red with all the layers of clothes. The wig was long and black, but cropped short at the sides, before being gathered at the back with a ribbon at what would be her waist. "Absolutely," she said with a smile.

The obi had a splash of red maple leaves that strangely looked like blood spatter.

"That is not going to end well." Dean said.

"Because the doll is a construct of hell, wearing the skin of a maiden?" Castiel asked.

"No, two women trying to dress the same doll." Dean answered, "only way it could be worse is if they were wearing the same outfit to a party." Castiel looked at him as if he had tried to disprove the existence of oxygen, or tried to convince him to watch American idol, or something equally un-Dean-like and stupid. "You know they're both armed to the teeth." Then he grinned, "ooh, catfight." Castiel just tilted his head as if there was nothing to be done and turned back to the anime.

Completed the doll was strangly beautiful with a serene expression. It was kneeling on the desk with its hands in it's lap and looked very like a medieval princess.

Ichigo appraised the doll like a buyer at market who didn't like what she saw. "But, Kaasan," she said to Erin, "I don't remember entering a contest." She threw her satchel down to the side of the desk and went to leave, "I don't care what you do with it, I don't want it, I'm too old to play with dolls, give it to Sam." On the couch Dean exploded with laughter.

Erin rolled her eyes and the camera tracked her into the bowels of the order where Sam and Dean were training. Sam was levelling a roundhouse kick at his brother whilst standing on his hands. Dean was clearly teasing him judging by the expression on his face but as hard as Sam was trying he never managed to lay a blow. Erin shook her head and decided not to interrupt them.

Back in the main room the lights were turned on and the doll leant forward to lean on it's hands as it got to it's feet. It was a little wobbly at first, like a new born calf, then picked up the small dagger that Bobby had left on the table, the one she had used to open the parcel, and climbed down.

Sam walked into the corridor wearing a pair of oversized pyjamas, "hey, Sammy," Dean called him back, "are you still having the nightmares?" Sam signed before he nodded, "want me to sleep with you?" Sam nodded. "I'll just go shower and join you, daijoubu?"

Sam squeezed his arm. "Thanks, Aniki. I'll tell Otousama."

In the hallway the doll, using the wall to support herself, watched the exchange and smiled, showing small white resin teeth under her painted lips. The other hand held Bobby's knife and the point was caught in the fabric of her white kimono.

A random Senboshi, recognisable by his coat even if they didn't recognise his features, walked past. He had one of those black dusters with the white trim and the red cross on the back same as both Dean and Bobby. Sam's coat was shorter, being only mid thigh length and not flared. The senboshi had a newspaper in one hand and a coffee in the other. He was not visibly armed. He sat down on one of the leather couches to drink his coffee and read his paper.

Unfortunately he was in an anime where the killer had already been revealed and had been introduced just in time to meet a messy end, which he did, the doll carefully keeping the fabric of her kimono out of the blood. She didn't just slit his throat, she carved him up like a Christmas ham, then leaving Bobby's knife stuck through his eye she jumped down with a crack of resin meeting concrete before moving, spiderlike on her hands and feet with her back bowed and pointing towards the floor, back to where she had been on the desk. There was now the maple pattern on the hem of her kimono.

The eye catch came on.

"Sam, new rule, dolls are officially freaky." Dean muttered. "Now," he rooted around in his jeans pocket for his cell, "anyone want pizza? I've got a sudden craving for Italian."

Sam rolled his eyes and pushed pause on the dvd player. He could do pizza, and he'd been sat long enough that one foot was dead and now he thought about it, he really needed to pee. "Do we need more beer?" he asked.

"Donuts," Cas said suddenly. Then "I shall return, do not continue without me," as he pinged off to wherever it was he went when he did that.

He reappeared, just as Sam was coming out of the toilet, with an uncooked pizza, a tray of donuts and 2 six packs of bottled beer. Dean rolled his eyes, "Cas, what have we told you about just taking things from stores? it's called stealing." It sounded like one of those conversations that they had had many times before.

"I was delayed by the queue at the counter," Castiel continued, "there was a lady there who seemed determined to use many coupons, and had over ten items despite it being the ten items or less counter, but I did not steal these items, Dean, they were paid for with the cash in your wallet." Dean patted himself down, realised his wallet was missing and just groaned sometihng about being unable to take him anywhere even as he helped relieve him of the beer.

The pizza was put in the oven, and the donuts opened. "I have developed something of a sweet tooth." Castiel admitted, "and the idea of ground beef is most unappetising."

"No, shit," Dean said thinking of what happened in February and popped open a beer passing it along to Sam, then a second for Castiel, before opening one for himself.

Bobby, who had been dozing through the previous episodes, occasionally waking up long enough to make some kind of comment, had started to snore. Cas handed his beer to Dean, although it was unlikely he would actually drink it, to put Bobby to bed.

Sam heard Bobby making some protestations about being able to do it himself and not needing help, and Cas just replied, "I know," in a way that suggested it wasn't going to stop him but that it was true. There was the sound of boots hitting the floor, and then the curtains being drawn, before he came back in without his trench coat and jacket. He lifted the bottle of beer and took a long deep swallow before flopping down between the two of them again. "I must admit," he said, "I am enjoying this gospel more than the last."

"Only because you're not in it yet," Dean said around a mouthful of donut.

"He's in the manga already," Sam pointed out turning the laptop to show the character design for Castiel, who was tall, thin, had long blonde hair, half of which was caught in a knot and glasses, beside him was Uriel, who looked completely unlike he had in real life. He was, like Castiel, androgynous and in the same shapeless clothes, but he was white, goth white, with white hair and golden eyes, along one side of his neck and face was ice blue flame tattooes.

"Shit," Dean said, ignoring the scramble on screen as they tried to find the murderer of the random senboshi, "even Uriel's hot in this." He swallowed noisily, "I bet there is even Cas slash Uriel porn." At that Cas started to choke on his beer.

Sam said nothing, he just made clear that he was watching the show in which the Order was on lockdown to find the killer and Bobby was pissed that they'd used her knife. Sam and Dean were locked in Sam's bedroom, because obviously the show wasn't blatant enough in suggesting they were having a sexual relationship. "I'm just sayin'," Dean continued blithely, "Bobby was right, if two people like a thing one of 'em wrote porn about it." It was how Bobby had shrugged away their whole OMG!there's Sam slash Dean porn on the internet revelation. He also added if there was a third that person wrote gay porn about it with a whole "it happened" nonchalance.

Even the information that there was Bobby slash John porn stories on the internet had been responded to with nonchalance, "it happened" and "your father was a fine looking man:"

Sam suspected that since Bobby had met his first Winchester a lot of things had "it happened" nonchalance as their answer, the alternative was madness clearly.

On screen John Winchester was fighting the doll, which was bizarre to watch as the doll was very clearly winning. Every time he got a grip on it and threw it that he might draw his gun and attack it's elastic body snapped back in ways that a human body couldn't and attacked him in another way.

When he finally managed to dislodge the thing, which had lost it's wig and was actually freakier bald, he pulled a pistol from his belt and fired four shots into it's head.

To the horror of both the animated John Winchester and the three watching it the doll didn't even slow down. He emptied the clip into the thing's body and even as the resin shattered and cracked around the holes it didn't stop, the human skin falling into flaps and the magic designs showing themselves. It launched itself with broken legs and used the broken spar of it's right arm as a weapon, plunging it into his throat over and over again. Before leaping back out of range. John Winchester put his hand to his throat, mostly to hold it together, and slid down the door. As he fell into a sitting position his eyes darkened and he fell to the side.

"Dude!" Dean exclaimed, "Dad just got iced by a doll!"

"Yeah," Sam dismissed, "but he's a Winchester, you know death doesn't take."

Ichigo, still wearing her school unform with Erin behind her, had come out of a side passage way, Erin shouldered Ichigo to the rear and from somewhere pulled out a long and rather heavy sword emblazoned with alchemical designs. As the doll lunged at her she speared it out of the air severing the elastic at it's waist. The doll's resin was stuck on the blade, waving what remained it's arms futilely in an attempt to attack.

From behind it Bobby grabbed it, slid it off the blade and slammed it into a box made of iron with a devil's trap clearly on the lid, which she then sealed with some sort of magical incantation. Even as she held the box in her arms she said "it was going for Sam's room. You think it's after Dean?"

Erin frowned, "we're going to have to take stock and regroup after this," she admitted looking at the slumped corpse of John Winchester, "We're lucky that the boys were locked in their sleeping quarters when the alarm went off." She leant on the heavy sword that she had planted in the ground before her. "We can't protect them here, we were lucky, we need to send them to the outpost in Shikoku."

"They're going to complain." Ichigo pointed out.

"Jo-kun," Bobby said, "we've had murders in Sam's school, we've had Dean knocked off his bike by a woman in white, a catoblepas appearing out of nowhere to attack them, and a youkai directly confront them and now this. They're going."

Erin looked her daughter up and down. "And you're going too."

That was the cue for the credits to roll.

"I know, I know" Sam said typing even as Dean looked across at him. "It's a horror movie." He looked down the list google had given him, "and maybe an island. I don't know. It happened in the manga too."

"Keep your panties on, Samako-hime," Dean laughed using the anime's pet name for his brother, "I was about to ask if you wanted pizza, it's about ready to come out of the oven."

Sam went to say something, then thought better of it, before putting his laptop down on the floor between him and Bobby's tv and going to get the pizza. Pizza was always infinitely easier to deal with than his brother. Pizza didn't back talk him for one, or expect him to know the location of every island in Japan that might actually be a dog but to add insult to injury the pizza was just cheese.

"Shikoku is an island," Castiel said from the couch, "It is traditionally accepted to be the gateway to the underworld and has several forbidden rituals for raising the dead."

"So, let me get this straight," Dean said as he negotiated the pizza back from his brother, when he hadn't been prepared to get up and get it himself. "They are being hunted by bad ass demons, right?" Sam acknowledged that this was the case, "and the other Senboshi people are being iced by evil dolls." Sam nodded. "So they send them to an island with a history of raising the dead!" He raised an eyebrow, "the writers of this thing are mad."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "they thought you were the cool one."

Dean pulled a face before he turned back to the anime. On screen a pretty girl in a floral kimono was arguing with her father about familial duties and what was expected of her. Her father called her Kaname, so on the couch Dean immediately called her Canape. She lived in a traditional Japanese mansion, that looked like something from a samurai movie, and snuck out to meet her lover, a black man called Godo who was wearing an order overcoat.

From the window her father watched this with horror. "It is fine," he told an unseen figure in the room, "she will participate in the ceremony when the time is right." The camera panned back to show a pair of stockinged legs and sat upon them a doll, revealing that the sitter was clearly Megu even if she wasn't in shot.

And that was enough to start the credits, this episode was called "The winds of love."

The brothers, and Ichigo, were on a train, facing each other over the formica table with those cute little Japanese lunchboxes. Ichigo, who was wearing her Order coat, was complaining that Shikoku was a hole and they wouldn't have a decent bubble tea let alone wifi.

Sam looked at his brother just waiting for him to ask, because truth be told he had no idea what bubble tea was either. Dean just watched the show. On the screen his counterpart was eating what looked like little cheese pikachus, which were surprisingly cute up until the moment he bit their heads off. Ichigo whined, Dean ate, and Sam sat reading. "They have their reasons," he said finally, "even if Shikoku is the end of the world."

"And then some," Dean added. Then he picked up a different pokemon, this one seemingly made out of a boiled egg and said "squirtle, I choose you," before he bit it's head off. He was talking with his mouth full as outside the train the rain lashed down, "besides Shikoku is full of the best of the Senboshi, only the best go to the Shikoku outpost, so obviously we're the best."

"Or obviously you're incompetent and need protected," Ichigo smiled. "I mean, I'm clearly here to protect you on the journey." Dean just laughed at that idea.

The order outpost at Shikoku was at the top of a very tall flight of stairs with Shinto Arches along it's length, and ropes tied along the huge trees that flanked it. "Great," Dean snarked picking up his bags, "We've gone and ended up living with Sailor Mars." Then he thought about it, "though that could be pretty sweet, she was kinda hot, and would probably put out."

"Aniki," Sam whined as he threw his own pack over his shoulder, "we agreed, Sailor Mars isn't real." The tone was perfectly patronising, "but those are a lot of stairs."

"I'm telling you, Sammy, if we get there and there's crows, I'm on the first bus back to Tokyo."

Ichigo smiled to herself, "hey, you think Sam-kun has a Sailor transformation," she was already climbing the steps, "sort of Sam crystal power - make up!" She held her arm up to mimic the movement.

"Kids!" A Senboshi said from the top of the hill. It was the black man from the teaser, Godo. He was stern and made no attempt to help them. Ichigo pulled a face and carried on to the main building where a monk lazed on his back reading magazines. "We've got kids," Godo told the monk who didn't even look up from his magazine.

"And?" the monk said, "they're due, show them to their rooms and start them training." He looked at them over the edge of the magazine, which appeared to feature women in swimsuits. "Hang on, Any of you cook?"

Dean looked at his brother. The monk scrambled to his feet, "Congratulations, the kitchen's yours, welcome to Shikoku on behalf of the Order." Sam looked a little frightened as the monk led him away.

"He eats a lot," Godo said to the others, "so he likes people who cook. Come with me, I'll show you where to stow your gear. You'll have to pull your own weight here."

On the couch Dean said "You know, he looks kind of familiar."

"It's Gordon," Sam sighed, rolling his eyes, sometimes his brother was brilliant; sometimes it was like talking to sand. "I know, it's only a matter of time before he kills me."

"I was talking about the monk, I've seen him before somewhere." Sam just shook his head in dismay and lifted one of Cas' donuts as the angel made a sort of horrified noise and Sam just didnt' care any more if it was because of the pastry theft or what was happening on screen. Maybe Bobby had the right idea, he could just close his eyes and hope Dean bothered to tell him what happened at the end.

On second thoughts Dean wouldn't do that and he'd just have to put it on again, that was if Dean didn't just poke him at the end of the episode to change the disk, because judging by his reactions to the last two menus there was a chance he'd spazz out and break the tv.

"I want you finished by seven," Godo complained, "there's a festival, and we're going. There's yukuta laid out for you."

"Oh wow," Dean said, "a real country festival." It was beautifully sarcastic, enough to transcend the language barrier. And was enough to bring on the eyecatch.

The festival was in the town below the shrine and they had strung lanterns from the trees and there were booths all around. Although Godo had said that he had laid out yukuta they were clearly proper kimono and Ichigo had found a fox mask from somewhere with which she was holding back her hair. She had some sort of square confection in a bowl which she was eating with a long toothpick. Dean, dressed like a samurai, much to the original's delight, had some sort of snack which was small brown balls on a stick. "What the hell is he eating?" Real Dean asked with a mouthful of cheese pizza.

"Deep fried tanuki testicles." Castiel lied without missing a beat. Sam had never loved Castiel as much as he did at that moment.

Of course, Dean focussed on the important part of that statement. "And what the frigg is a tanuki?" Castiel gave him "oh the human is trying to communicate with me" look that cats were so fond of before he turned back to the screen where they were gathered around a clearing where a girl in a floral kimono was waiting to begin the ceremonial dance.

She grinned at Godo before she lowered her mask. It was the girl from the teaser. Her mask was a plain white dome upon which the eyes were black slits, and the mouth an odd line. There were thirty three red lines counted off on the forehead above two raised dot eyebrows. It was disturbing.

The drums started and the girl, Kaname, started to dance, traditionally, but it was clear that she was dancing for Godo.

From the trees around the festival a girl in a hood smiled and lowered the fabric about her face. She had gathered her distinctive pony tails half into knots and had her doll in a sling around her side. "Look, Alice," she said with a wicked little grin. "It's going to start for Papa, we should see it all from here." She muttered something untranslated and a wind started to pick up around the dancing girl's feet. "Papa's going to be so happy with Megu, don't you think, Alice?"

Dean was talking in his brother's ear, whatever it was caused Sam to turn around and exclaim "Aniki!" like he was horrified, and Ichigo was always within arm's reach, literally. Godo, who stood beside them had eyes only for Kaname as she danced and the monk, Nanjiroh-sensei, was trying to catch a goldfish.

The wind started to pick up.

The credits rolled.

"They can't leave it there," Dean whined, wriggling. "I mean nothing happened."

"Two parter." Sam said calmly. Dean pulled himself out of the chair, "need a piss," he announced as if anyone either cared or doubted his intentions. "Musta broken the seal," he said.

Castiel looked confused at that and did the head tilt. "It's a beer thing," Sam explained, "you don't need to go until you break the seal and then you can't stop." Castiel was getting a lot of practice at the "how adorable the humans are trying to communicate" look today. Then leant over to see what Sam was looking at on the laptop.

"Ah," he said, "you are looking for translations to the unanimated version of this gospel," he said.

"The manga, yes." Sam agreed, "something tells me Bobby will be pissed if we ask him to translate it for us."

"You could learn the language." Castiel said it like was as simple as going to the store. "Japanese is a very simplistic language, especially in comparison to English. It does not have as many rules to obey and only three tenses, and in your role as Boy-king you should be able to speak all the languages of man."

Sam had a momentary flash of himself speaking Swahili - mostly because if anyone ever picked a language that sounded like gibberish they always namechecked Swahili. Truthfully he wouldn't have recognised Swahili if a large Masai tribesman came up to him to ask him the time. In fact he wasn't even sure that the Masai spoke Swahili.

By the time Dean had come back it was also obvious that the teaser was missing because the episode went straight into the credits. "Wotcha doin'?" He asked, looking at Castiel bent over Sam to look at the laptop.

"We are divining my purpose in the manga," Castiel answered blithely, "and also if Michael is present if he too looks "like a chick"," he mimicked Dean's tone perfectly, "and if so would saying yes to him make you his prom dress."

"You spend too much time with Samantha," Dean said plopping down on the old couch, "or should I say Samako-hime?"

"You are of course correct, Sam." Castiel said turning his attention to the musical acrobatics on the screen, "Michael is far too much woman for him." Sam wanted to hug the angel, he really did, but Dean's bitchface, to use his own words, could have stripped paint. Castiel might not have a full grasp of human humour, but he was a master at teasing Dean.

On the screen the credits ended with the episode name, "To Keep it's Beauty" and the girl, Kaname dancing. She was lunging back and forth now, unable to truly control her movements and the wind was shaking the trees. Her head was cast back and she was trying, still controlled by the dance, to remove her mask. It seemed welded in place.

Dean leant into his brother, "I think something's wrong."

Sam's eyes were matte and he was muttering something under his breath then he lifted his hands, dropping the goldfish in a bag he had there. The fish flopped uselessly on the ground as Sam stepped forward towards the circle of dancing. "Sam-kun," Ichigo asked, her hands at the cuffs on her ears, "Dean-chan, I think something's wrong." She said and wilted. Dean was lucky enough to catch her before she hit the ground.

Dean was stuck with an armful of Ichigo as the monk, Nanjiroh stepped between Sam and the dancers. Kaname was almost frantic in the circle now. "Sam-kun," the monk said, "Sam!" he repeated it carefully. "Ten-shin!" He said the word deliberately and Sam jerked as if electrocuted.

"What's he doing?" Dean asked from the couch because clearly the real Dean wanted to rip his lungs out, even if this Sam was animated Dean was a big brother.

"Ten-shin!" the monk repeated and Sam jerked again, flopping like the fish, which the director decided to show again.

"Kaze," Sam said clearly, though his eyes were still blank. "Kaze!" he repeated. Then pushed one hand out, the force of it threw Nanjiroh across the festival. "Kaname-Kaze," he stumbled over the words and then stepped up to the dancer, placing his hands on her mask, "Kaijin." He said, and vanished, along with Kaname and the people beating the drums.

The whole bizarre scene didn't seem to last long but it took it from the "previously on Supernatural" straight up to the eyecatch. it had focussed, Sam noticed, a lot on the dying flops of the gold fish right up to Nanjiroh stepped on it. It must be that that episode had a different director.

As the show restarted it was clear that Dean was frantic looking for Sammy, judging by the way he was knocking aside festival goers and calling out his brother's name. Nanjiroh was talking to the police who had gathered trying to distinguish what had gone on, and Godo was left with Ichigo who was pulling at the jewellery in her ears like it burned. Godo was clearly as frantic as Dean was but chained in place by Ichigo and her weakness.

Whatever had happened to Kaname and Sam was clearly affecting her as well.

"Dean-kun," Nanjiroh said coming over, "are you armed?" It seemed like something of a nonsequiteur.

"Always, master." The translator used the word Master but Sam suspected that it was one where the subtleties had been lost. "I have two knives and my pistols. Do you know where my brother is?"

"The dark realm." Nanjiroh said calmly.

Dean was horrified. "There is nothing we can do, Dean, Sam has to come back on his own, but there are probably other things here."

"Demo," the word was clearly but and for some reason the translator had missed it.

"Sam is Senboshi," Nanjiroh cut him off, "the dark realm should hold no threat to him. We need to get Ichigo back to the Temple." Dean looked horrified, "and start looking for Kaname." Dean was caught between following orders and finding his brother. "There are things you need to know, Dean, and this isn't the time or the place, and besides, my new goldfish," he held the bag up, "needs to get into it's tank."

Dean seethed all the way back to the temple. Godo was carrying Ichigo because she was unable to walk, calling out every time someone touched her ears, and Nanjiroh was singing a silly little song about goldfish. Nanjiroh might be completely batshit but he seemed to know what he was doing, as he nodded to the two demon statues that guarded the door. "Dean," he said, "will you come with me?"

Dean's look was beligerant because he clearly didn't want to go with him, he wanted to look for Sam. "This is the first outpost of the Senboshi, this building," he waved his goldfish at it, "is the Temple of Saint Michael for whom the Order of Saint Michael was created." He slid back the door, kicked off his geta and padded into the room in his socks, "this is Saint Michael."

There was a huge statue of the archangel in the middle of the room, but it was created with a distinctly buddhist slant, and although the figure held a spear his expression was Buddha impassive. He didn't have wings. "This is where Saint Michael threw down the very king of Hell. The second temple, in Himuro, was abandoned, and guarded the very gates to Hell's kingdom."

There was a plastic fish tank on a table with a blue hood and Nanjiroh dropped the fish into it, plastic bag and all. "The king of Hell was Saint Michael's otouto, just as Sam is yours. Do you know why you and Sam were sent here, when this place can be so dangerous?"

"No," Dean answered.

"Because those Senboshi here are the strongest, the most devout and you were chosen to serve here, and to protect your brother and Ichigo, who is the key to the Dark Realm. Now, we will do what we can for Sam, we shall light these candles and we'll pray. If his skill is half of what Bobby reported then the Dark Realm will hold no worry for him."

Dean assumed the position of kneeling before the altar, then pulled out a magazine, "Master!" he protested, "these are skin mags."

The monk grinned and stowed them into his belt. "And some of my most precious too." He said solemnly. "No, our dear, powerful Saint Michael, we beseech for you to intercede on our behalf with aid for our Sam, because no one makes mochi like he does and we will be heartbroken to lose him." Nanjiroh clearly had the important details sorted, Sam noted.

He lowered his head and started chanting as the translator's notes read that he was actually singing the popular theme song for the cup o ramen adverts from the seventies, something the viewers would recognise, and judging by his expression so did anime Dean.

There was a clatter behind them and the door opened and Sam fell through, "Aniki," he said, "I couldn't save her," he said and then fell forward. As fast as Dean was to try and catch him, Nanjiroh was faster. He caught Sam and managed in one fell swoop to strip him out of his dusty torn kimono, down to his underpants and prone on the floor beneath him.

"Hentai!" Dean said, "shotakon hentai." He tried to throw Nanjiroh off. The translator didn't bother with those words, it was entirely clear what they meant.

"I'm not," he frowned, "I'm checking that no youma marked him on his way back," He flipped Sam like a pancake, "he could be carrying one inside him even now." Dean looked skeptical but let him continue, then Nanjiroh picked him up, like he was a chips packet, to carry him to his futon. "He's fine." He said. "He'll want a bath when he wakes up."

The scene cut to a girl in a kimono falling alongside a skyscraper as women screamed, when she landed in a large spray of blood she lay like a broken doll and her face was cut off completely.

In the next scene, which Sam didn't have to be psychic to predict, both Sam and Dean were in the bath - together, Dean sat against the back of the tub with Sam in front of him. "Like they didn't think we were having sex before," the real Dean groused. This close it was easy to see the difference between them, Sam's eyes were large, almost like a caricature, where Dean's were more human sized but his nose was longer where Sam's was small, so their faces were about the same size and shape. Sam's skin was darker, but Dean's hands were larger upon him, and Sam was facing away from his brother.

Dean was looking at the network of thin white scars on his brother's back. "Who did this?" he asked.

"Aniki," Sam said trying to shrug it off.

"Sam, who did this?" Dean repeated the question. His tone was calm and even.

"Aniki, it's just training scars," Sam tried to get away.

"No, scuffs and scrapes and bruises are training scars," Dean closed his hand on his brother's shoulder, "this, this is a whipping."

"I don't learn fast enough." Sam shouted the words out, "okay, I don't learn fast enough, and I could get you killed. It makes me learn."

"I'll fucking kill him," the real Dean and anime Dean said at the same time.

"You can't," Sam said, "it doesn't matter, I didn't learn fast enough and now I do, and he's dead! Otousama is dead and..." Sam started crying and Dean just wrapped his arms about his brother murmuring reassurances into his hair as the credits started.

It was the last episode on the disk.

The last disk had four episodes and finished the series although Sam was getting the creeping impression that it wouldn't even be close to the end of the story. He was hoping it would though, because Dean was pissy when he got into something and it didn't finish, or worse yet, ended on a cliffhanger.

The menu had done Mariko of Tokyo proud, the other two were only hinting towards this one which showed Dean suspended on a dark background with wire that bit into him. He was wearing only his trousers which were open and a rather lustful smile. His eyes were an un-natural green and it was a different artist this time. "You think Chuck will pay for the therapy?" Dean asked.

"If he does it'll be their greatest hits on mp3," Sam joked. Both Castiel and Dean looked at him, clearly not getting the reference. Sam felt quite disappointed, he had made a rock music joke and his brother hadn't got it. Sam gave up whilst reasonably ahead and started episode 10.

The teaser, because this episode, unlike the last one had one, showed Dean finding Nanjiroh, who was eating pokemon shaped eggs and rice balls, and asking him if it was true, if it was possible to raise the dead here.

Nanjiroh changed from affable old man to deadly serious Senboshi and said point blank it wasn't worth the effort, and it would break the law of Death allowing more ghosts through, and the living dead- never mind youma; that if the person Dean wanted was dead it was best to leave him that way. Then as Dean went to walk away, "Your father wasn't a nice person, Dean-kun," Dean stopped in his tracks, "and sometimes it's best to let the dead lie, he didn't understand that and it changed him. What did he tell you about your mother, Meri?" The answer was clear on Dean's face. "I didn't think so. I'm going fishing later, are you coming with me?"

"And Sam?"

"Godo has Ichigo-kun and Sam-kun cleaning the dojo, it is good training but it will take the whole day." Nanjiroh said, "and we'll try and catch dinner."

The credits started, "so this is the exposition episode," Dean droned, "I wanted more kick ass demon smiting."

"But you can't always get what you want," Castiel intoned solemnly, "and there might be some information that the old man gives the other you that might help in our battle, the mythology has already been altered to better fit it's audience, perhaps something we would not consider is clear here."

"Look," Dean said, "if you don't want us to skip it, you only had to say."

"I don't want to skip it." Castiel repeated.

At the river bank Dean was sat with a rod and Nanjiroh had sprawled out with the line between his toes. "You are a folklorist," the monk said calmly.

"I am training to be one," Dean corrected, "I study with...."

"You either are or you aren't, there is no try." Nanjiroh said in a mock serene fashion. "I will tell you a story, about your mother, Meri." The camera panned into the water and the scene changed but Nanjiroh's voice lingered as a narration. "Meri was my Nee-san, and the best Senboshi I have ever seen. She used to kick my ass regularly." On screen the blonde girl, dressed not entirely like Ichigo in the black coat trimmed in white, was kicking youma butt and taking no prisoners, switching from feet and fists, to pistols and knives without hestitation.

"I worshipped her, we all worshipped her. We, Nee-san and I, went to investigate a haunting in Yokohama which is where she met your father, John, an American Airman. I didn't like him." The screen showed a young John meeting Meri and the two of them whirling, "I think I was jealous, she was my Nee-san. Our parents were dead, Senboshi as well, they died in a car accident not in the field, and perhaps that was why Meri eloped. She left everything behind." The camera showed the house with Okiiro waiting, "they didn't leave her, John came back when she was gone, when Sam was a baby, I set him up with the Senboshi in Tokyo, with Erin," she appeared on the screen briefly in a black dress which was entirely backless showing a quick design on her back, "and Bobby, and let them watch Sam grow, find out what it was that Okiiro had wanted."

"You knew," Dean accused.

"I knew he trained you, I knew he was cold, I knew he loved your mother so much he was almost mad in the loss of her, that he blamed himself." Nanjiroh qualified. "I only recently learned just how far he had fallen. I implored him to send you both here, to me, but he refused. Erin was under instruction that if something happened to him you were to come to me, where I would keep you safe."

"What is Sam?" Dean asked, "why do the Youkai want him?"

"Sam is Kamimon." As Nanjiroh said the word, which the translator ignored, the eyecatch flashed up, but was different, showing a seal of solomon, the outer circles spinning. The second eyecatch was a similar design but Sam didn't recognise it, it showed a sword thrust through a saltyre in it's centre.

The entire design of the Anime changed at that point, as if another artist had taken over. "Once," Nanjiroh said, "the two great forces of the Underworld, Izanami and Izanagi in their eternal war bore two children, Ameratsu and Susano. These two children were to rule the upper world for their parents, but instead murdered them and cast them into the House of Windowless rooms." This was all illustrated in a sort of dreamy ukiyo-e style that didn't look entirely unlike the computer game Okami which Sam had read about for it's unique art.

"Susano was the god of wind and storm, Ameratsu the god of sun and fire." Nanjiroh stopped, "and they maintained their seperate kingdoms, though one day Susano came to visit his sister and he played such pranks on her that she retreated into a great cave and would not come out. Whilst she cowered in fear the world was dark and stormy and the youma ran wild amongst the people, killing without remorse or pause. So the lesser gods decided that they would hang gifts from a great Sakura tree outside her cave until she stepped out, and then they would seal the cave behind her. Susano hung his great sword of wind, the heart of a great youkai was hung for her, and a mirror that she might know how treasured she was. Do you know this story, Dean?"

Dean answered "un,"

"It's not true, not quite," Nanjiroh continued, "It was not Susano who drove Ameratsu into the cave but a great Youkai who called himself Atsuetsueru," even Nanjiroh stumbled over the word though it was obviously Azazel. "You see Ameratsu held a great power, she alone could open the door to Hell, the lowest of all the underworlds. It was not gods who gathered outside the cave to draw her out, but youma, they stole Susano's sword and hung it there, they hung the heart of her most beloved priestess, and a mirror to trap her light." The story was repeating itself, but not the same, matching the mythology of the show.

"Ameratsu prayed and prayed but no one came, drawn by the celebrations outside the cave and knowing how her people suffered she ventured forth. She pulled down Susano's great sword of wind. She pulled down the heart of her most beloved priestess and ate it, and then she pulled down the mirror and as she was caught in it, she thrust it at the ground and it shattered, defying Atsuetsueru. The shards of glass were caught in the wind from the sword, softened by the blood of the priestess' true heart and they landed in the mouths of human children. These children were given gifts, curses, they became Kamimon, or marked by God." He stopped again, "like Sam."

"Atsuetsueru became known as Okiiro as he hunted the human children, because his eyes were the colour of pale lemons and Saint Michael delivered one of those children here to Shikoku, which is where the cave of Ameratsu is, the very door to the underworld. The door to Hell is in Himuro. That is why the youkai hunt your brother, that is why he is here, that is the power that runs unchecked within him. Your brother is one of the shards of the sun-god's mirror, and they can use him to open the underworld, or the very gates of Hell."

And the credits started.

"Well, that's new," Sam said, "I can honestly say I haven't heard that one before."

"It is a simple reappropration of an existing myth used to suit it's audience and the existing folklore." Castiel said, "but I must admit that it bears some thought and more research, afterall this is the second gospel, it may have secrets we have yet to discern."

"So this Ammy person god thing went kersplat and it's her powers making animated Sam explode into fireballs."

"Yes," Castiel and Sam said together.

"Just wanted to make sure I was on the same page."

Episode eleven had dispensed with the teaser and the credits were different although the song remained the same. It started with Ichigo, or teenage Erin, it was hard to tell she whizzed past so fast, but she wore a floor length black skirt, a white blouse and a waistcoat until she turned around and lifted her hair to reveal a sigil on her back through which the camera zoomed. Then it went to Sam and Dean back to back and fighting a whole army of shadowy youma with pistols and swords, before Dean pulled out an old fashioned musket and fired into the shadows. The shadows cleared to reveal Bobby reading and Erin bringing her coffee before a great thunderbolt struck the top of the Order building and Okiiro laughed.

The episode was called "Eternal and Eternal" and they were clearly in the final stretch, after this disk it was finished so he assumed that they would defeat the youkai on this disk, or he would have to listen to Dean whine about him learning Japanese so he could finish the story, and of course Dean wouldn't be the one to have to learn a new language. Sam wondered if someone somewhere published the story in Latin so they could read it.

On screen Sam and Ichigo were in the temple at Shikoku going through old boxes. Ichigo was the first to speak out because she found a black skirt which she was delighted with. She handed it to Sam as she looked for the rest of the outfit, and instead found a photograph, "it's kaasan," she laughed, "and Bobby, and someone else."

Sam looked at the photo showing the three girls, and they were girls, about the age that Ichigo was now, the third girl, had silvery purple hair and was flashing a v-sign at the camera. "That is my kaasan," Sam said, "I only saw Otousama's photograph before." He sounded wistful, "she's beautiful."

"And happy," Ichigo said looking over his shoulder, "but look at what they're wearing, and the hair!" She crowed with delight, "we should get this as a poster, and postcards, we can send it to Kaasan. Look at Bobby!" The three girls were not, as might be expected, wearing sailor fuku, but instead wore Order uniforms. Bobby wore thigh high boots, they appeared to be a staple, with black trousers with white sides and a corset with white panels which laced up. She also had pigtails.

Erin wore a blouse, ribbon tie and waistcoat affair with a slit floor length skirt, but Sam knew from finding the actual outfit in the box, that it was backless. Her hair however was in farrah fawcett feathers about her face even if she wore the same comb she wore now, and had ear cuffs like Jo wore.

Meri wore a pleated skirt that was trimmed in white, with a matching black jacket and white blouse, her boots were laced up to the knee and her hair was gathered by a white ribbon at the back of her head, with most of it falling free. She was the one flashing the v sign.

"Look," Ichigo said opening the box to reveal the rest of the costumes, but there were no more photos. "I can wear this. It will fit." She was holding the outfit her mother wore in the costume, "go show Master, he might have some stories to share."

Sam picked up his mother's coat and brought it to his face, hugging it and holding the photo as he went out of the store room and past the dojo where Godo and Dean were training with large heavy wooden swords, swinging them over their heads to the floor, and to the shrine where Nanjiroh sleeping on his back with a magazine over his face.

"Master, master," Sam said bursting in, "look, Jo-kun and I found sme old photos, look." As he approached Nanjiroh it became clear that he was lying in a pool of blood and that the magazine covered the wound that had sliced off his face. That became apparent to Sam almost immediately when a figure in heavy boots stepped forward holding the face in his hand dangling like a handkerchief. "Hello, Sam-Bocchan," Okiiro said and a white light blinded the screen.

Ichigo wearing the black and white outfit her mother had in the photo blundered into the room, "Master, look," she said excitedly and then saw the vista before her, the statue of Saint Michael had been split in two, as if by lightning, and Nanjiroh was just meat, the girly mag still in his hand although his chest had exploded and his face was missing. She screamed.

That triggered the eyecatch.

"Son of a bitch," Dean exclaimed loudly, "I liked him."

"He was very like you," Castiel said, "he was a devout warrior but easily distracted by the pleasures of the flesh."

Dean groaned, rolling his eyes.

On screen, after the second eyecatch Dean and Godo ran into the shrine in answer to Ichigo's screaming, and the girl could scream. She had collapsed into her skirts and Dean immediately went to comfort her before he saw the devastation. "Master!" Godo screamed running to the corpse.

"Yellow," Ichigo panted, "his eyes were yellow."

"Ichigo-kun," Dean said, "where's Sam? Where's my brother?"

"He took him," she wept, "he took him. The man with the yellow eyes took him."

"Okiiro," Dean sneered, "we need to contact Bobby."

"This is your fault!" Godo screamed at Dean and Ichigo, "you brought the Makai here, it was only a matter of time before the Youkai came for their own." He was still holding the wooden practise sword,"both that abomination," he pointed at Ichigo, "and your creature of a brother, they killed Kaname, but I held my tongue, they have killed my master and I will have vengeance."

He lunged at Dean who pushed Ichigo back lifting his own wooden practise sword. The fight was quick and dirty, Godo had much more strength and training but his rage blinded him and Dean took the opportunity to kick the legs out from underneath him. By the time that Dean had him down, with the training sword at his neck Ichigo had phoned her mother and appraised her of the situation.

The scene changed to the Order building in Tokyo where Erin put down the handset of the phone. "Okiiro's made his move," she told Bobby, "He's taken Sam-kun, he's destroyed the Shikoku temple." She pressed her hand to her head as if fighting off a headache.

"Himuro." Bobby said finally. "He'll have taken him to Himuro. He's going to start his plan," she opened a cabinet to reveal a racks of machine guns. "He's going to open the gates to Hell."

And that triggered the end credits, most of the episode had gone to showing the three girls, and then the fight between Godo and Dean which was obviously setting up something much later, but even so it felt shorter than the others.

The next episode according to the page Sam was using was called "I shall endure."

It started with a battered old black car, that was not entirely unlike a certain Impala, pulling up to an old abandoned Japanese mansion as Erin and Bobby, both in black versions of their usual outfits trimmed in white climbed out, long legged and lovely, before popping the trunk to reveal an actual arsenal of weapons from katana to bo, with plenty of guns in between.

"Load up on guns, and bring your friends," Dean muttered under his breath.

"We should have burned this place down," Erin said and pulled the two cuffs off her ears before shirking out of her shawl to reveal the saltyre design on her back. "We should have salted the earth years ago."

Bobby cocked the shotgun in her hands, "we didn't." She said and began to climb the steps, two at a time.

It started the credits which were shorter than they had been.

Sam awoke on an old and stained tatami with a curious cockroach crawling across his hand. He jerked up and sent the bug flying. He was in the sort of old mansion that appeared in Samurai movies but everything was old and ruined. He looked around to see a girl in a pale blue sailor's dress sitting facing him with her knees to her chest. "I wanna go home," she said, "I wanna go home!" She was sobbing, and then her eyes widened and she pointed behind him.

The ghost walked through the wall calmly, her black hair down over her face and she was dressed in funeral whites, her skin was grey and her jaw torn away but she still managed to seem like she was smiling. She lifted her hand to Sam and then threw him across the room so that he slammed against the wall where the girl in the sailor dress was.

"You can take that little bitch," Dean muttered from the sofa leaning forward to get closer to the screen.

Sam rolled to his feet putting himself between the girl and the ghost as he summoned Tachigami, the valkyrie who gave him his sword, allowing him to pull it out of his own hand, which the real Sam noted was never going to be not cool. He used the goddess' sword, but not the full manifestation of the goddess, as she had appeared before, to slice through the ghost who vanished into black smoke. Then he offered his hand to the girl, "we've got to get out of here. I'm Sam."

Seeing him as a better alternative to whatever it was that the ghosts in this place offered she stood up. "Ruri," she muttered.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked.

She shook her head and started crying, "I just wanna go home," she said, "I want my mom!"

"I'll get you out of here," Sam said, "I promise." On the couch Castiel snorted, the girl was pretty much already toetagged it was clear. Only two people made it out of Cold Oak and Lily, who Sam guessed was this girl, wasn't one of them.

The mansion was clearly abandoned and had been for some time, and oddly thick white ropes hung from the beams along the top of some of the corridors, forcing Sam to push through them as Ruri almost dawdled behind. He was attacked by two more ghosts along the way and used Tachigami's sword to fight them off. When he reached the room with the firepit there was another kid waiting. He was about the same age as Sam and was holding an old and broken knife. "He says if I want out of here I've got to kill you." The boy said, "I'm sorry," and he lunged.

In Shikoku Dean was facing Ichigo, "I need to get into the Dark Realm, I have to find Sammy," he said, "your mother can do it, can you open the portal?"

"I don't know." Ichigo sobbed, "I don't know."

"I'm sorry," Dean said, "I promised your Kaasan I'd keep your secrets," he pulled off the cuffs on her ears one by one, "you are Makai, half demon half human, you are the gate to the Dark Realm even if you don't know it." He kissed her on the forehead as convulsions started to shake her. "Thank you, Jo-kun," then he began chanting in the nonsense language that the anime used for magic.

Ichigo's back was bare, which was good because otherwise the fabric would have been burned up and torn away by the force of the blast from the sigil that formed on her back. Her hair was buffetted about appearing as it did in the new opening credits. Dean stepped into the shockwave and vanished.

The dark realm was a washed out apocalyptic world where there was no vegetation other than moss and even those buildings that were there were ruined, and dark shadows lurked where they could just be seen out of the corner of the eye as blurs of movement. It looked kind of gothic with it's arches, and broken rose windows. Dean broke off a piece of iron rebar as a weapon, and then began scratching out a symbol on the ground. "Where is my brother?" he asked the twists of air that gathered, "show me the way to my brother." The gusts twisted together into a blue light that zipped off to the north and Dean ran off after it.

That triggered the eyecatch.

The show came back to Bobby and Erin fighting their way through the ghosts with whatever weapons they could muster, magic included. The show had them just as kick ass as they were in real life, even though Bobby had become a woman for the program. "We have to get to the gate, we have to stop this. If he opens the gates the world will be lost." Bobby said, it was clearly exposition for the viewer.

"You say that like I don't know." Erin snapped refilling the shotgun she was using.

"There is something about a beautiful woman with heavy artillery," Dean gushed on the sofa. "I'm in love and I don't know which one I love more."

"Dean," Castiel warned.

"In Japan at conventions there will be real women dressed like that." Dean continued, "loose women in fantastic costumes carrying shotguns, we could take photos! Oh, three-arrmmmfff" Castiel picked up a donut and pushed it into Dean's mouth to shut him up. It worked marvellously, although the angel's expression suggested that you couldn't take Dean anywhere.

On screen Sam was thrown against the stairs by the kid with the knife as Ruri cowered between a screen and the wall. Sam grabbed his wrist and tried to turn the two of them so he could get some distance between himself and his attacker, "the man said I could go home," the kid repeated, "he said it, he said if I killed you then I could go home."

Sam raised his legs and kicked him away so that he slammed into the grandfather clock stood there. A pair of white arms came from the body of the clock and wrapped their arms about him, then a second and a third pair, and then they pulled back. The kid didn't really stand a chance as the ghosts pulled him to pieces as Ruri screamed, Sam making sure he and his sword were between the clock with it's ghostly arms and the girl. He was panting and looking around.

From a door to the left of them which they hadn't seen before, Okiiro stepped out, clapping slowly. "Expertly done, Sam-bocchan, Ruri-hime," he nodded to them both, "of course only one of you can go home, so I wouldn't show her your back if I were you, Sam-kun, it's just offering her a target."

"You killed my Kaasan!" Sam yelled, "my Otousama! my Master! you killed them." he lunged at the demon.

"And?" the youkai asked and vanished just as the sword would have cut through him. "Are you going to find me?" no body matched the voice that spoke. "I'm near, Sam-kun, come and find me."

In the Dark realm Dean was following the cavorting lights through the wasteland when a figure in a blue silk coat stepped out in front of him, his hand on a white hilted katana. It was apparent quickly, that although the man's hair was very short he was an older version of Dean. "Do you know who I am?" the man asked.

"Saint Michael," Dean answered, "let me pass."

"In a moment," the man said holding out his hand, "I have something to ask you."

Dean went to shoulder past him but he was held firm by the strange air of the place. "Ask then."

The man smiled and threw a sword to Dean, "fight me first," he said and the credits started.

The credits were different this time because although the words scrolled up the screen and the ending song played the battle continued on screen until Dean was pinned by the figure. In what was usually a teaser for the next episode in anime Michael, holding his katana to Dean's throat asked, "why are you doing this? Why are you risking your very soul? He is abomination best left dead."

"Because he's my brother." Dean said and Michael stepped back.

From his jacket he pulled an old fashioned musket. "This will kill the youkai." he said. "you have one shot, use it well. Keep the sword," he said firmly. "You're going to need it." The screen went black with the last credit being for whatever Tokyo channel that played it.

The last episode was labelled the Inferno and instead of the usual teaser it had the previously on Supernatural opening, Dean lifted the remote and played it and the shortened credits on double speed to get back to the action.

It was clear what was happening though, Bobby and Erin were looking for Sam but were held back by a tide of ghosts as they both led and hindered Sam and what must have been the other children that Okiiro had obviously kidnapped because as Sam walked through the corridors of the old mansion he found bodies and could not hear the blasts from Bobby and Erin.

It was more a study in slow building fear as ghosts appeared and vanished through the house where visibility was poor, sometimes they could be heard weeping, or in one case singing softly, and never appeared. Ruri was getting more and more frantic so by the time they found their way to a stair case in the forest that led to a path she was practically gibbering. Sam reassured her and together, hand in hand they walked through an abandoned bamboo garden with a well from which a ghost erupted with a shriek.

As Sam lashed out at the ghost with Tachigami's sword Ruri lifted a large stone, "It's all your fault!" she said, and tried to strike him with it. Sam's power lashed out of control, a great wind rising from his feet, ripping the ghost, Ruri and the bamboo to nothing in a unplanned whirlwind. "NO!" Sam screamed, "I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to."

"But you did, Sam-kun," Megu said, she was sat on the fence with her distinctive hair in braids about her head. "And you'll do it again, after all you're Papa's favourite." Sam unleashed Itegami at her but by the time the ice goddess hit the fence she was gone leaving behind her laughter.

At the end of the path was another stair case built into the side of a hill and weeping, covered in blood and pieces of bamboo Sam ran up the stairs to a small temple which brought out the eyecatch.

"This show finally gets interesting," Dean whined, "and all we get are these pictures."

"I believe that they are called Eyecatches." Castiel said, "it says so on the website Sam has open."

As the animated Sam pushed open the door to the small temple and stepped inside Dean pulled a face. One wall was an old metal mirror that was heavily flecked with dirt and rot, and there was a huge splash of blood on the floor as if a body had fallen from a great height and hit the wooden floor hard where it burst open like a balloon.

Sam sidestepped the blood and walked to the mirror. His reflection smiled at him, small and cruel, "Hello, Sam," his reflection said. "Is it time already?" the voice wasn't Sam's but richer, deeper. "Then come on, we can defeat the Youkai together."

"Who are you?" Sam asked.

The figure's smile was warmer as it grew older, looking more like Dean with each moment but with Sam's colouring, and taller than his brother would ever be. "You don't need to know that, Sam. Go on, your Aniki is waiting." The figure pointed at the wall where one panel stood slightly proud. Sam walked over to it and pried it open to reveal a door with a bridge leading through the forest into the darkness.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed, "it's Lucifer! We didn't even know he was real back then."

"Way to spot the obvious, Dean," Sam drawled, "but anime me is a bit of an idiot." Dean just snorted a laugh.

The bridge led to a great clearing in the woods where a cliff face of maybe thirty feet rose out of the ground. There was a shinto arch against the wall and ropes crossed the walls into which a doorway was carved.

"Sam-bocchan." Okiiro said brightly. "You made it, come on," he stepped out of the shadows directly in front of the arch and the carved doorway.

"Kaijin!" Sam yelled himself unleashing his power, the wind he couldn't control, the billowing pillows of flame and the gods and goddesses he could summon, it all lashed out of him at Okiiro who just laughed.

The Youkai turned to the arch. "Do it, come on, Sam-kun, you're not even tickling me. More!" And the power intensified.

The outline of the doorway became more defined and glowed as Okiiro channeled Sam's power into the gate. "Just like that, bocchan." the Youkai taunted, "We'll open the doors to Hell together." But Sam's power was long out of control.

"Get back from him, you son of a bitch!" Animated Dean said stepping out from behind Sam as the gates creaked open Sam's power feeding itself and twisting back to open them. Dean lifted the musket he had got from the Dark Realm and fired. The shot was true, catching Okiiro between the eyes and he fell down dead but the gate kept opening.

Dean wrapped his arms around his brother and murmured something that the translator didn't catch, and clutching the white handled katana that Michael gave him leapt into the open doorway. It slammed shut behind him as Bobby screamed, her and Erin finally arriving on the scene.

The credits rolled.

"What the frigg?" Dean asked leaping up, "what the hell happened? What did the other me do?"

"It was explained in an earlier episode that to close the gates to Hell a living human had to go through. Dean wrote this quite explicitly when he was in the university studying." Castiel said, "I believe it was one of the first things he discovered."

"But!" Dean protested. "They can't leave it there."

"They can and they have." Castiel said. "At best there will be a teaser for the next episode.

"Cas!" Dean exclaimed, "That was the last episode."

Castiel however was right as Dean was shown in Hell, bound by wires around one arm and fighting with the white handled sword as the sound was replaced with wing beats.

"Sam!" Dean protested. "You can't."

"I didn't." Sam answered, "that's where it ended, it's where the books ended after all." He was hoping that if he made this clear Dean wouldn't insist on him learning Japanese to find the ending of the manga. "And besides that was like two years ago, you know what happens next, Castiel saves you and..." Dean got up cutting him off. "You can't kill Chuck." Sam said it quietly, "this wasn't really his fault."

"This is the work of the second prophet." Castiel said.

"Okay," Dean took a long deep breath, "we're watching this again." The others just groaned.

**Author's Note:**

> translations
> 
> Sarariman - salary man, any worker in a suit  
> Katana = a Samurai sword  
> Dai Ikka - lesson one  
> Youma - low level demon  
> Ofuda - a paper talisman,   
> Aniki - big brother  
> -hime - a suffix meaning princess  
> K'so (kuso) - a curse word, lit. Shit  
> Otousama - Father  
> Gakuran - school uniform  
> Kamimon - god crests - this is a word I made up for the story  
> Sensei - teacher  
> -kun - a diminutive used for someone younger or of lower social status than yourself - it's not as informal as -chan, but getting there   
> Ramen - noodles  
> Kazegami - the god of wind  
> Hakama - the wide legged pants of a samurai  
> -san - suffix for someone of greater social standing or a stranger  
> Daijoubu - okay  
> Soapland - a place where men pay women to bathe them - usually a brothel  
> Dai Nikka - lesson two  
> Senboshi - lit. Star soldiers or warriors, this is a word I made up for the story and used in exchange for hunter.  
> Yaoi - hard core gay porn  
> Itegami - god of ice  
> Moegami - god of fire  
> Kanji - Asian ideograms used as writing  
> Kai-jin - this is deliberately left un translated and serves as a magic spell  
> Yukuta - light fabric summer kimono worn for festivals or sleeping  
> Okiiro - kiiro means yellow and O is added to show it's importance, ie chai is ochai - tea, or kane is usually okane - money  
> Youkai - a higher level demon  
> Tachigami - sword goddess  
> Tasukete - help me  
> Otouto - little brother  
> Kage - shadow  
> Makai - a type of demon  
> Kaasan - Mom  
> Bento - lunchbox  
> Ten-shin - this is a magical invocation I made up  
> Kaze - wind  
> Demo - but  
> hentai - pervert  
> Shotakon - pedophile  
> Makai - half human half demon  
> Tatami - traditional japanese rush matting
> 
> Note on names  
> These are mostly Japanese transliterations of the English names  
> Ie Ellen becomes Erin, R and L are interchangeable   
> Jo became Ichigo  
> Lily from Cold Oak became Ruri  
> Megu is Meg (the u is silent)
> 
>  
> 
> This had been submitted and confirmed weeks BEFORE the anime was announced, so any comparisons are pure coincidence


End file.
